Curse of Death and Love
by MsNerdverse
Summary: Before the Third Shinobi World War, there was a clan so powerful. One night they suddenly disappeared. A mysterious girl on the run. Who is she? How did she end up protected by Hatake Kakashi? And what does she mean with "don't touch me"? Rated M for blood and violence in later chapters. Please Leave a review to let me know if you like it.
1. Who is she?

_Near the Iwagakure in the Land of Earth, there were a Village so hidden that there were rumours that it didn't even exist. Though there were a few people who accidentally entered the village and told about it existence. In this Village lived one of the strongest, most powerful clans of the country. A clan that consisted of mostly medical ninjas. This clan had a really powerful Kekkei Genkai, but also held a devastating curse._

 _The Shima-clan were a highly sought after clan, since they could put up a defense at the same time as they could heal their patients. This was due to their bloodline._

 _In this time of war, the Shimas' was still firm on their policy; Not taking anyones side. This could cause a problem since they were hired to sites all over the battlefields, but the Shimas were aware of this and made necessary precautions. They set their medical camps far from the frontlines._

 _This might sounds strange, but this was how the Village hidden deep in the mountains of the Land of Earth survived._

 _Just before the Third Shinobi World War, the clan of Shima were struck with several curses in the span of just a few years. It started with a child of the clan being abducted. This child would later return, for something no one could foresee. This night was the last time anyone would hear from the Shima._

* * *

Being hunted is never fun. It is less fun when one have been hunted for the last three days without rest. The young woman was tired, beaten up and seriously annoyed at the situation. Her right foot were fractured, her right arm dislocated. Yet, she had no opportunity to stop and apply first aid. These bounty hunters that been after her had divided themself into three groups of five, constantly chasing and attacking her. Whenever a group would tire out, the next one would jump in. It was really frustrating, though she had somewhat gotten used to it. This was not the first time she had been hunted like this. It had been the first time she had to jump down of a waterfall though. The hunters had cornered her and in fear for the lives she currently was protecting she jumped, dislocating her shoulder as she hit the water.

It was now turning into evening on the third day since the hunt had begun. The woman had a chance to catch a breath behind a tree. She leaned onto the trunk, closing her eyes for a few seconds while her ears listened for her perpetrators. 

* * *

_"Stay silent, and remember to not be seen", a grown man with blonde hair reminded a group of children. Namikaze Minato were leading his three man team on a scouting mission. They were on the lookout for any threats as well as searching for enemy supplies._

 _"We should split up and go in for different directions. That way we can cover more ground", a boy with silver hair and a mask suggested._

 _The other three nodded in agreement before jumping away, splitting up after the agreed on meeting at the same spot in an hour if they hadn't found anything suspiscious._

 _An hour passed, and all four gathered at the meeting spot, reporting anything that could be of use._

 _"Not much to work with", said the boy with goggles on his head._

 _"Agreed", Minato nodded in agreement. The intel he had gotten from the Third Hokage said there had been suspiscious activity around this area, but they hadn't found anything._

 _"What do we do now? We've been here for almost a week and still haven't seen anything", the girl said while sighing heavily. She found a big rock to sit down on._

 _Just while Minato was about to suggest a new strategy, they all heard some rustling from some bushes in the distance. They all took on battle positions, not knowing what they were up against._

 _"Stay on your guard", Minato ordered. Suddenly, the rustling stopped. It became quite for some time. The girl and the boy with goggles exchanged confused looks. What was going on? Why did the sound suddenly stop?_

 _Minato had a concerned look on his face. He gestered to the team that he was going to look, but that the team should stay put. His team nodded as Minato turned around and starting to sneak up to where the sound came from._

 _"Rin, be prepared to use you healing", the boy with the silver hair said to the girl. Rin gave out a sound of agreement._

 _The boy in goggles started to sneak towards the sound from the side._

 _"Obito, get back here!", a angry voice whispered, but Obito wanted to know what was going on. He was tired of no action. He wanted to show everyone that he was brave. He wanted to impress Rin._

 _Suddenly, out of nowhere, a girl stumbled out behind a tree to the right of the boy with silver hair. She looked weak, like she hadn't slept in several days. The girl fell forward as she fainted._

 _"Kakashi, look out!", Rin called. Minato and Obito turned to look at the scen unfolding. A young girl, with cuts and bruises all over had appeared out of nowhere and fainted. Right before she passed out she had tried to say something, but the words disappeard with her conscouisness. Kakashi managed to catch her just before she fell to the ground._

* * *

Hatake Kakashi woke up in his appartment in the middle of the night. He hadn't had that dream for a very long time. He sighed as he looked at the night sky outside his window. He wondered where she was. What she was doing. If she was safe. The last thought made him worried. He knew of the dangers that awaited her out in the world. He hoped he could see her again one day. As she fell into his arms that day, he fell for her. 

* * *

_"Who is she?", asked Obito. The girl had been placed near a fire to stay warm. A fever had her whole body shivering. Kakashi sat beside her as Obito tried to understand what just happened._ _Rin had tried to use her healing skills on the mysterious girl, but just as she was about to put her healing chakra in contact with the girls body, she was flung away. Everyone watched in horror as Rin had flew as if she was thrown. A few hours later and Rin still hadn't regained her concouisness._

 _Minato looked like he really concentrated on something, while Kakashi had a look of worry on this mysterious girl._

 _"Well, until she wakes up on her own, we won't know", Minato finally said._

 _"Should we take her back with us to the Village?", Kakashi asked. He didn't want to leave this girl like this, but he knew they had to return back to the Village tomorrow. If they could bring her with them, maybe they could still get some answeres from her once she woke up._

 _Minato didn't dismiss the idea, but Obito protested._

 _"Look at what she did to Rin! Rin only tried to help but she got thrown like a puppet and now she is unconscious. And you want to take her with us?", Obito almost screamed. He was so_ _angry. Why were they not? "What if she does something even worse inside the Village?", He continued._

 _"'Don't touch me'", Kakashi cut in. Obito and Minato starred at him with confused looks. "'Don't touch me'. That was what she said as she passed out. Maybe she tried to warn us about something."_

" _Well, whatever she tried to say or whoever she is, she will come with us to Konoha. Maybe the Third can help us solve this", Minato suggested before the boys started to argue like they usually do. "Tomorrow we start our journey back"._

* * *

She opened her eyes after what felt like an eternity. It had only passed a minute since she stopped, but she figured it was time to start moving again. The perpetrators couldn't be far behind.

She jumped up the tree, flinching at the pain from her right leg. She had no feeling in her fractured foot anymore, but the pain had started to climb up the leg. She needed to find somewhere where she could rest and fix her foot, but the sound of screaming bounty hunters made her push that thought away for now. She jumped ahead to the next branch, steadily increasing speed as she adjusted to the pain. It didn't take long until she started to recognise the area. She new where she was. A smile found her lips. She finally got a plan. Hopefully He was there and willing to help! 

* * *

**End of chapter 1. A mysterious girl, and Kakashi knows her. The Forth wanted to bring her back.**


	2. Long time no see

Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Sai and Nara Shikamaru had been summoned to the Hokages office the next day.

"I have an important but secret mission for you", Tsunade began. She had her elbows placed on the desk while she leaned her face into her hands.

Naruto and Sakura exchanged looks, while Sai had a confused look. Shikamaru looked uninterested.

"We have gotten reports of a really dangerous criminal around the forrest by the South wall of the Village. I need you to capture her. This is no ordinary criminal. She can kill you, but you can't make any physical contact with her. If you do, your lives is at stake. And do NOT kill her." Tsunade continued to explain.

"What do you mean our lives is at stake if we make physical contact?", Sakura asked with consern in her voice.

"You need to capture her from a distance. That is why you four have been tasked with this mission. Sai is to use his drawings to tire her out, while Shikamaru is to immobolise her. That is where Naruto will use his shadow clones to chain her up. Sakura goes with you as support in case she resists", Tsunade told the team the strategy. They all nodded as a token that they had understood, yet Shikamaru was sceptic. Who was this person that needed this much planning to catch?

"But wait!" Naruto yelled in consern and worry. "If our lives is at stake if we touch her, won't I still be affected even if they are clones?"

"We believe that it is safe. Our theory is that the curse does not effect non physical beings", Tsunade explained calmly, but realised she spoke to much. It was too late.

"What curse?" Shikamaru became serious. This mission only seemed to get more dangerous by the minute. He did not want another mission where his teammates were in danger.

"Just capture her. Remember to not make any physical contact. You will get an explanation when your mission is done." Tsunade had no energy to start the whole conversation about rumours and theories. She just wanted this dealt with so she could move on. "Dismissed"

The four teammates looked confused, but soon realised they would not get the answers they wanted.

"By the way!" Tsunade called before the four youngsters had left. "Remember this is a classified mission. No one is to know about it." She had a serious and dark tone in her voice. It almost made Sakura shiver. What could be so dangerous about this person?

* * *

 _In a hospital bed layed the mysterious girl. Kakashi sat on the roof right outside her window. He didn't want people to start talking, but he just couldn't leave her alone. She looked like she were the same age as himself. How could someone so young be so beaten up? The x-ray showed several boken ribs, but no medical ninjas had any chance to heal her._

 _Once they arrived at the hospital, the same result happened to the medic as it had happened to Rin. Just as the chakra had reached her body, an unseeable force had thrown the medic across the room._ _It appeared that the chakra had been drained, almost to a lethal level. Both Rin and the medic were now being treated._

 _After that, no one wanted to even go near the girl. It was Kakashi and Minato who had to put her in the x-ray. Everyone else refused._

 _The door to the girls room opened. Kakashi went on full alert. He did not like the whispers and looks people gave her, so he was prepared to engage. But he didn't have to. He knew the voice that were speaking to the girl._

 _"I'm so sorry you have to go through this. It's not even your fault", Minato sighed as he sat himself down on a stool next to the bed. "Everyone in this hospital want you out, but I won't let them._ _Besides, no one even dares to touch you. So you are safe for now._

 _Kakashi couldn't believe what he heard. They wanted her out? But she was injured. A child._ _Exhausted and lonely. Why would they get rid of her?_ _He had no answers, yet. But he would make it his own mission to find out._

* * *

"She is just up ahead!" one of the hunters yelled. They had caught up to the woman they were chasing.

"Easy prey now!" another hunter yelled back. They upped their pace to close the small distance that still seperated the hunters and their prey.

"Just remember to not let her touch you. And don't kill her! She is needed alive if we are to get our price!" the first one reminded the team. He then threw a shuriken at the woman, making her fall over as she dodged it. She was obviously in pain, as she whimpered as she hit the ground. She made an attempt to rise up, but as she found her footing she was surrounded.

"We have you now. Why don't you just give up? I doubt you can keep up with another day of fleeing. Besides, in your condition there is no way you could fight us all." the leader of the group said, as the two other groups landed around her. The woman took her time to look at each and everyone of the hunters. She was trying to find a strategy.

One of the hunters threw a pair of handcuffs with four chains attached to them in front of the woman. She looked down on them and then up to the man who had thrown them.

"Why don't you be a dear and put them on, honey?" the man gave her a smirk. The others chuckled at how easy it was to finally catch her. And this time, there were no waterfalls to jump down from. They still watched her, ready to attack if she were to try to escape.

But…

Instead of doing as they said, she just gave the chains one last look before she once again looked around. This time though, a smirk had taken form on her lips.

"Why don't you come here and put them on. Honey?" she replied. This took the hunters by surprise. They knew that they couldn't go near her, but they couldn't threaten her with death either. And she knew that.

The woman finally stood straight, adjusted to the pain she didn't manage to block out. She close her eyes, taking a deep breath. She exhaled, but stood with eyes closed. She made no movement. This both annoyed and made the hunters anxious. Why didn't she do something?

The woman just stood there. Like a statue, with eyes closed.

* * *

 _"You are finally awake. Good to see you feeling better". The mysterious girl had finally opened her eyes after being unconcious for almost a week. She was greeted by a tall man with blond hair and a small boy her age with silver hair and a mask covering half of his face. By the door stood a boy with black hair and goggles on his head. He did not look happy. At her other side stood a girl with brown hair. She was smiling at her. Why?_

 _"It's nice to meet you!" the girl said, reaching out her hand to shake. "My name is Rin. What's yours?_

 _The boy by the door hastily went up to the girl to pull her hand away. "Don't touch her! Have you forgotten what happened to you? You want that to happen again?"_

 _"Obito!" the girl named Rin protested. "That happened because I tried to use my healing on her. It won't happen if I just shake her hand."_

 _The mysterious girl felt like she was trapped. There were people around her on all sides. What did they want with her? They wanted the bounty? Then why place her inside a hospital?_

 _"Let's not fight. I guess we should take it slow", the grown man said. "You are in a hospital in Konoha. We were out scouting when you suddenly showed up and passed out on us. We felt like we couldn't leave you there so we carried you with us here", he continued._

 _The girls eyes went as wide as they could when she heard she had been carried. She threw the man an apologetically look before she broke down. She put an arm over her eyes, trying to hide her tears._

 _"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!", she suddenly screamed out. This threw everyone back. Why were she apologizing? It wasn't like it was her fault that she had passed out on them. They were really confused._ _They exchanged looks with each others before they decided to leave the room. The girl still screaming out apologies as they closed the door._

* * *

Kakashi decided to take a walk outside the Village walls. He needed to get his thoughts straight. It had been a while since he dreamed of her. In the past he had the same kind of dreams, and they usually meant something. So Kakashi decided to take a walk outside the Village walls.

In reality though, he were going to scout. He had a hunch that something was going on and if there were something to understand about Kakashi, it was that his hunches were almost always right. He strolled out of the South gate, taking a quick look around. To his surprise he saw his former team 7 and Shikamaru having a serious discussion. They all had a look of concern on their faces, and seemed to be disagreeing on something. Out of curiosity, Kakashi went up to them with his usual smile asking what was going on. They jumped at his voice.

"Oh! Hi, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said nervously. She tried to act normal, but Kakashi saw through her immediatly.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei, but we are just heading out on a mission. We were just having a discussion about what would be the best plan", Shikamaru said with a voice far more normal than Sakura. Yet, Kakashi couldn't help but feel that they were all hiding something.

"Oh really? What kind of mission?" he asked.

"Classified!" All four exclaimed in a choir.

"Let's get going", Shikamaru told the team and they started going south. They were definitely hiding something. Could it have something to do with his hunch?

* * *

 _Once again Kakashi had placed himself outside the girls hospital window. He tried to understand what had happened earlier. He was confused. The girl had started apologizing all of a sudden. For a moment it seemed like she had regretted the whole incident… Wait! Could it have something to do with what she said as she_ _passed out? 'Don't touch me' she had said. And after she knew she had been carried here, she started crying…?_

 _"I know you are out there." He suddenly heard a soft voice from inside the room. "Why are you there?"_

 _Kakashi climbed inside the room through the window, standing right beside her bed. He looked at her, observed her. He noticed the sorrow in her eyes, her fists clenched. "I didn't want you to feel alone" he finally said._

 _"Why? Everyone else avoids me like the plague" she asked, still eyeing the floor on the opposite side of the bed._

 _"Well, first of I'm not like everyone else." The girl finally moved her eyes. She didn't look at him, but she had now moved her eyes to her fists. "Besides, I know how it is to feel lonely" He sat down at the footend of the bed. The girl didn't move her eyes this time, instead she shrunk her body, pulling arms and legs close to her._

 _"Are you afraid of me?" Kakashi asked. He didn't want to scare her. He wanted to protect her._

 _"No" She relaxed a little, still with ger arms and legs close to ger body. "I just don't like being_ _close to people."_

 _"Why? Is there a reason for that?" He didn't want to pry, but he needed to understand her._

* * *

Neither the hunters nor the woman had moved from their positions. The woman still had her eyes closed.

"What's taking so long?", a guy in the back yelled. Many of the hunters had started to loose patience

To their surprise, it was the woman who answered. "It will all be over soon, don't worry."

This made all hunters nervous. Something was going to happen, but what.

It didn't take long after her answer before she finally moved. She took out several shurikens out of her pouch on her waist with her left hand, while she made a sign with her right. She still had her eyes closed as she moved slowly.

"Don't move!"

"I've grown tried of you. I'm done" She swung her right hand against the shurikens in her left, spillning blod on each of them. She opened her eyes with a huge smile on her face. "The hunt is over", she said as she threw the shurikens straight up in the air. As they reached their height, the woman started to point at one hunter at a time.

It all happened so fast. Suddenly the shurikens flew straight to the throats of the hunters she had pointed at.

* * *

The screams from far away put a team of four on alert. They exchanged looks before they decided to follow the screams.

* * *

Another scout heard the screams. He turned his way towards the sounds, hoping his hunch lead him straight to what he believed was the source of the sounds.

* * *

 _"What is your name?" the girl asked the boy at the foot of her bed. He seemed like he didn't want to hurt her. Infact, it felt like he wanted to get to know her. At least she could ask him his name._

 _The boys eyes smiled at her. "Hatake Kakashi. And you are?"_

 _She hesitated before she answered._

* * *

"Look out!" A grown man yelled as he jumped down behind the woman. He managed to deflect a kunai heading towards her head. He knew all to well that the technique she currently was using needed her to stay fully focused.

"Long time no see, Kakashi" The woman smiled at him.

"Missed me?" His eyes smiled back. One second later he realised that she was loosing focus. He noticed her shaking body, dryed blood on her head. She would fall over any second. He needed to end this quick.

"I…" She lost conciousness. Kakashi hurried to catch her.

* * *

 _"My name is Taileah"_

* * *

 **End of chapter 2. What will the team say when they find Kakashi together with the person they are supposed to capture?**


	3. I dont care anymore

"Shit!" Kakashi growled as he caught Taileah. He noticed her broken ankle and her dislocated shoulder as he caught her. He became furious the more he thought about what she had to go through this time. He hadn't seen her for years, yet she still always seemed to be on the brink of death from exhaustion whenever they met. He became angry. Angry at himself. He had made a promise to always protect her, yet she came back in this state. He stared at the hunters who were still alive. They backed away slowly from them, afraid of his gaze.

"Are you an idiot?!" one of the hunters yelled. "You really must want to die you fool!"

"No", Kakashi answered as he gently laid Taileah on the ground. "You are the fools who must want to die", he continued as he stood up, not moving from his protective position. He slowly placed his hand on his forehead protector, rising it to reveal his left eye. The gift he got from his childhood friend as a gift. The Sharingan.

This made some of the hunters to turn their backs and run away as they realized who they were up against. Those who were left got desperate and went on the offense. They did have a chance this time they thought. They could get in close combat.

* * *

 _"Congratulations on being discharged!" Rin gave Taileah a bouquet of white roses. Taileah blushed, but hesitated to take them as she was afraid of accidentally touch the girl. She seemed sweet and sincere. She didn't want to soil her._

 _"I have talked with the Third, and he wants to meet you. You and I are going there right now to discuss how we move forward", Minato told her with pride in his placed her gaze on her feet, not sure what to do. She had never been treated this nicely before. Maybe it was because they didn't know who she was?_

 _"Thank you", she finally answered but still held her gaze on her feet. She was now fully recovered, a few days later after she had woken up. This had surprised the medics in the hospital. They grew more suspicious as the days went by, and suddenly she was all alone on the whole reach out a hand as he made a gesture to get going. He wanted her out of there. Neither he nor Kakashi trusted these people anymore. They wanted her safe out of there._

 _Taileah stood up without taking his hand. She moved carefully to not bump into anyone as she made her way to the door._

* * *

The four-man team stopped just short of some bushes, disbelieving they sight in front of them. A woman passed out on the ground, Kakashi stood right beside her as he stared at a gang of men. All around them, dead people scattered. They had no idea what was going on, but it was serious. Serious enough for Kakashi to reveal his Sharingan.

"We need to help him!" Naruto called out. He was about to jump to help when he was stopped by Shikamaru.

"Wait! Something seems off", he claimed, eyeing the woman on the ground. Could she be the one they were looking for? They had gotten a brief explanation of signatures. From what he saw, she fit most of the description; young female around late twenties, light hair to the shoulders, standard height, thin figure. It was hard to see the length if her hair and her body as she lay on the ground, but he was certain. She was the person they were going to capture. But with Kakashi seemingly protecting her, it would pose a problem.

"If she is hurt I need to heal her", Sakura agreed with her friend.

"No. Remember what our mission is? Who we are supposed to capture?" Shikamaru said as he looked serious at the team.

"You mean… Kakashi is protecting the criminal? She is the criminal?" Sai said as he moved his gaze between Kakashi and the woman on the ground.

Shikamaru answered with a nod. This made Naruto sit down on the ground, and Sakura looked at her teacher with fear and sorrow.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

"We wait"

* * *

 _Taileah stood in the Hokages office together with Minato. Kakashi wanted to come to, but he was dismissed. This was a meeting between them._

 _"Why did you bring her to the Village?" the Third asked. "She is a danger here!"_

 _Taileah stood with her head down. She knew she wasn't welcome anywhere. Why bring her somewhere she would have to listen to the same old story? She had her head down, but her eyes looked anywhere for a way out. She knew they would just place her somewhere dark and isolated. Why drag it out?_

 _Still, she wanted freedom. She hated being locked up. She had spent too many years inside cells and cages. She was done with that._

 _"I couldn't just leave her there. She needed medical attention and somewhere safe to recover. So I decided to take her here." Minato did not falter. He strongly believed he made the right choice, and if she was who he suspected, she could be a great asset to the Village._

 _"She does not belong here. She belongs somewhere where she is away from everyone. Somewhere where she can't hurt anyone."_

 _There it came. This made Taileah more alert. She had found a way to escape. She just needed the timing for her to act._

 _"And I think she belongs somewhere where she is seen for what she is. A great ninja, skilled with the best medical ninjutsu there is. Our medics could learn from her. She should be treated like an asset to the Village"_

 _Taileah looked up at Minato with surprise in her eyes. No one had ever said anything to defend her, never treated her as a human being. And no one had given her that much praise. Ever!_

 _Minato looked down at her with a smile and something she had never experienced before. The Third shifted his gaze between the two. He knew Minato had point. No one in history could ever compare to the Shima when it came to medicine. But it was a huge risk._

 _"I understand what you mean, but I can't risk it. She is a criminal. She has done something that could never be forgiven, and the curse is a clear sign of that", the Third sighed. He wanted to agree with him. But he had the whole Village to think of. If he agreed to letting her stay, what would happen then?_

 _"I will keep an eye on her. What she did was not even her fault. If anything would happen, then I will be responsible."_

 _Taileah couldn't believe her ears. She looked nervous over at the Third who was deep in thought. What was going on? Were they actually thinking of letting her go?_

 _The Third sighed. "She will be your responsibility then. If she causes any problems, you are to answer for it. If she goes berserk, she will be put into isolation", he finally answered!_

 _She was free?_

 _"Thank you lord Hokage. I will take good c_ _are of her", Minato said as he put his hands on her shoulders. The Third flinched at the touch, but Taileah froze. She could not comprehend what had happened. Not at all._

 _Minato nudged her to bow, so she did so very stiffly. Then he lead her out of the office. She could stay? She didn't have to run anymore? She fell to the ground as tears slowly fell from her eyes._

 _S_ _he was safe._

* * *

As Kakashi were both attacking and defending at the same time, Naruto couldn't take it anymore. He stood up and readied himself as he was preparing to leap forward. "Shit. I dont care anymore. We can talk with him once they are gone", he said before he jumped ahead.

Shikamaru had no time to react, and suddenly Naruto were beside Kakashi and defending the injured woman on the ground. He made a few clones to fight off the rest of the hunters. The fight was over quickly after this, as it made the hunters run away. With two people and an infinite amount of clones, they needed to fall back and figure out a new way. Frustrated as they were finally so close, they screamed profanities at the ninjas as they fled.

Left were now Kakashi and Naruto, looking into each other's eyes.

Shikamaru sighed before he jumped forward, with Sai and Sakura right behind him. Kakashi did not appear to be surprised at their arrival. He almost looked like he was anticipating it.

"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked as he crossed his arms. He did not like this situation at all.

"I could say the same thing to you, though I think I can guess why", he answered as he crouched beside the woman. Sakura gasped as he picked the woman up from the ground and went over to a set of trees where he put her down against the trunk.

"Why would you do that?" she almost screamed at him.

"I figured it would be more comfortable like this for her", he calmly said as he kept his hand on her shoulder. His eyes were concerned, but full of love.

"This is a problem", Shikamaru sighed. He had lost count at how many times he had done that since they left the Village. "She is a dangerous criminal we were sent to capture and bring back to the Village."

"Shikamaru! It was classified!" Sai said sternly.

"No point in hiding it since he have already figured it out. But I don't understand why you would protect her if she is a criminal", he answered with a shrug.

"Would I protect a criminal, or would I save a friend in need?" Kakashi answered as he stood up.

A friend? He knew her personally? This mission became more and more troublesome by the minute. This were not going to be easy.

Sakura crouched as she prepared herself to heal the woman, but Kakashi grabbed her hands and looked her straight in the eyes. "Don't."

Sakura gave him a confused look and was about to protest when Kakashi continued. "Unless you want to have all your chakra sucked up. She can not be healed by anyone except for someone of her own kind", he released her hands. He gave the woman a concerned look before he once again looked at the leader of the team. "And I guess you've been told that your lives is in danger if you touch her? Am I in danger? But still, I won't tell you to grab her since I know she doesn't want that. She would hate me if I did."

"You really do know her?" Sai replied.

"But… What should we do then? We can't just leave her like this" Sakura said. She didn't want to touch her, but she just couldn't leave an injured person like this. There had to be something she could do.

That's when she noticed the dislocated shoulder. Before anyone could react she quickly grabbed it and pulled it into place, making the woman scream in pain. Naruto looked in horror at the scene unfolding, yet he wanted to help. He too had noticed the injuries and wanted to help. Someone that Kakashi considered a friend could not be an enemy. He crouched and took a firm grip at the womans leg, giving Sakura a nod of approval. She nodded back, taking hold of the foot and twist the broken ankle back straight before she quickly grabbed a couple of sticks and a bandage, starting to lock the foot in place.

The woman screamed in pain and tried to kick them of, but Kakashi held her to his chest, locking her arms, while Naruto held her legs.

Shikamaru gave up. There was nothing he could do now as both of them had gone against his and the Fifths orders. He walked away and placed himself with his back to the screams.

* * *

Taileah didn't feel well. When she noticed that Kakashi were close, her body unconsciously relaxed. Her vision got blurry, then it all turned black.

She had no idea how long she were gone, but a sudden pain in her right arm brought her back to reality. It felt like someone pulled her arm, trying to tear it off. And just as the pain in her shoulder subsided, stronger and sharper pain went from her right ankle and throughout her whole body. She tried to fight it off, but it was like she was trapped. Had she been captured? Was Kakashi okay? She got a sudden urge to open her eyes to look at the people that had captured her. Yet, she felt a sudden hopelessness that stopped her. Could she really do nothing? The pain mixed with the emotions made her give up what little strength she had left. She simply gave up.

"I don't care anymore", she thought as she let the black unconsciousness take her over once more.

* * *

 **End of chapter 3. How will they solve this? How will Taileah react at the new development? Find out in chapter 4.**


	4. I hope you found it

The early night became early morning. Four people had gathered around a fire, while the fifth sat beside a woman leaning against a tree. Shikamaru was disappointed. How was he going to explain this in his report? How to explain that the criminal they were out to catch, were a friend to the person who were next in line for the position of Hokage? And how to explain that the Village's hero and prominent kunoichi had touch the criminal, who they were told NOT to touch? He felt a headache rising. This day had not been going well. He looked at the woman who still was unconscious, but occasionally whined in pain. He had no idea what to do now. No matter what he thought of, it would always end in check mate. This was just too troublesome.

"Sooo…", Sai began. "How long have you known her?"

Kakashi looked at each and everyone of them before he answered. "I met her when we were 12 years old. She stayed in Konoha for some time, but… She had to leave one day. So she left."

Naruto listened eagerly. If she stayed in the Village around 20 years ago… That would meen she maybe had met his father? He wanted so bad to ask her, but Kakashi had explained that she wouldn't wake up for maybe a week.

Kakashi saw Naruto's eagerness and impatience. He chuckled and smiled at him. "Don't worry. You will have time to ask that later. Unless she is locked away as some people wants", he said as he looked at Shikamaru.

He noticed the eyes on him. He sighed and simply shook his head. "It's not that I want to lock her up. But our mission is so, and the Fifth sounded almost desperate when she gave us the order. I don't know how we are to proceed from here."

"I guess she didn't have all the facts straight" Kakashi simply said and the leaned against the trunk, trying to catch some sleep.

The others followed, all but Shikamaru. He couldn't sleep.

* * *

 _For the first time in her life, she could walk as a free human. No shackles, no chains, no cages. Minato never questioned why she cried. He understood. Being so young, having to be hunted and treated like a criminal. It must've been hard. He let her stay on the floor until she herself felt ready to get up and walk out of the building. When they stepped outside the entrance, she stopped again and closed her eyes. The soft breeze that caressed her face carefully, no hard wind hitting her. She bit her lips to stop her tears from falling again._

" _This is real. You don't need to run anymore, as long as you stick with me", Minato said and winked when she looked at him. He put his arm around her shoulders as they started walking away from the Hokage building._

 _Taileah felt uncomfortable with his arm around her. She stiffened and wanted him to let go, but as she tried to shake him of he just squeezed her shoulder trying to sooth her._

" _I won't hurt you.", he stopped, made her turn his way as he crouched to her level so he could look into her eyes. He still let a hand rest on the shoulder. "I know you feel uncomfortable, but I think it is time for you to let people get to know you. We want to help you. Whatever you have been through, I will never be able to understand. No one will. But I want to try. I want to help you."_

 _She could feel the tears start to fall again. She could not understand. Why was he so nice to her? Everyone else hated her, why didn't he?_

 _They continued to walk together, his arm still around her shoulders. People stared and whispered. Taileah walked with her head down and her fists closed, as she knew they whispered about her. Rumours traveled fast, even here._

" _Don't worry. You don't have to feel ashamed. I'm with you, so nothing will happen. Let them stare and whisper. That is a sign of insecurities." Minato whispered to her. "Lift your head. Show them your cute face."_

 _She hesitated for a good while. But then she slowly lifted her head. They had arrived at a barbecue restaurant where Rin, Kakashi and Obito waited. Rin smiled and waved and ran up to them. She threw herself at Taileah and gave her a big hug, which made her clench her fists so hard that she cut herself with her nails. She wanted to scream. Yet she resisted and spoke in a soft voice._

" _Please, let me go. I don't like having someone put their hands on me. I have enough lives to protect as it is."_

 _Rin let her go, but she was not sad. She understood. "It's okay. I'll wait for you to be ready. I was just so excited to see you again!"_

" _Why?"_

" _Because you are a great person! You care about others more than yourself. Instead of hurting people you help them, in a way. And you are amazing at medical ninjutsu! I really want to learn whatever you can teach me!" Rin didn't stop. Taileah looked at the people who had gathered there, and they nodded in agreement. Even Obito who didn't like her at first even smiled at her. And not a fake smile._

" _And there you have it. Now, how about we go inside and eat some barbecue to celebrate. We have a new member on our team."_

* * *

As the sun began to rise, Sakura woke up. She didn't really want to, but she worried about this woman too much. She went over to check on her, hesitating about putting her hand on her again. There was no way for her to check the healing of the ankle without touching her, and Sakura knew that. She took a deep breath before starting to examine the foot, taking of the bandages. The ankle had swollen more, due to not the right equipment. And unfortunately there was no way for Sakura to use her healing skills. They just had to wait.

Sai was next to wake up. He saw Sakura sitting by the woman, so he went over there as well. As he walked over, she turned her head. Sai gestured for her to follow him. They walked away for a bit so they wouldn't wake the others.

"What do we do now? We can't be gone for too long. " Sai said. Sakura gave a nod. They all knew that there would be people looking for them if they were gone for too long. But moving an injured person is not easy.

"And we have no idea when… she wakes up", Sakura said and realized she didn't know the womans name. "We should talk about this when everyone wakes up."

They didn't have to wait long. Shikamaru had not slept at all so he was awake and fully aware of where they went.

"We should get going soon. We can't stay here too long", Shikamaru said. He knew that by the end of this day, a new group would be sent out to look for them. This was a too much important mission to let it drag out too long. He let his eyes wonder to the woman, only to realize that Kakashi was nowhere to be found. "Anyone seen were Kakashi-sensei has gone?"

This made the others to look around, but could not find him. But he couldn't have gone far, since the woman were still there.

"Maybe he had a nature's call?" Naruto said with his arms around his head.

"Or maybe he just dumped his 'friend' on us. Faking that he knew her", Sai suggested.

"No,he knows her. His behavior yesterday were not of that nature. He wouldn't leave without her." Shikamaru answered. His mind working on possibilities. The he noticed something. "Sakura, have you done a check up on her?"

"Ye, I did so when I woke up. I removed the bandages to look at the foot before putting on new ones." she said.

Shikamaru went closer. He crouched down at her side and observed her face. "Did she make a sound? Or move or anything?"

Sakura knew by this point where he was going with this. She had not in fact even twitched at the touch of her foot being examined and changed. She shook her head in answer.

"You mean? She is dead?!" Naruto yelled. "No! Kakashi-sensei did not kill her and then leave! No way!"

"That is not what we are saying", Shikamaru said as he stood up and kicked at the woman.

"What are you doing…?" Naruto yelled as he was about to stop him. But, to everyones surprise she vanished in a cloud of smoke. A clone.

Naruto froze. What happened?

"He must have switched her to a clone while we were not looking, and then took of with her." Shikamaru hit the trunk of the tree with his fist. Damn it! What were they to do now? They had found the criminal, who turned out to be a friend of Konohas 'Copy Ninja' who then had ran away with her. He clearly did not trust them.

* * *

Kakashi stopped by a river a few miles away. He put Taileah down right by the river as he took a piece of his shirt to wipe her head. She had started shivering with fever, and he wanted to lower it.

He felt a little guilty about leaving them behind, but he needed to do this on his own. She was his responsibility, his to protect. He didn't need or want anyone dragged into this. He was going to protect her for as long as he could. Even if it meant that he had to be on the run with her. This time, he wouldn't let her go alone.

* * *

 _Minato and his now team of four had gotten their first mission. They had traveled quite far north inside of the Land of Fire, almost at the border of the Land of Sound. This made Taileah anxious. She didn't want to go back there. She was afraid and had stopped several times, making the whole team stop and wait for her as well._

 _The believed it had to do with her recovery, since she had just recovered from broken ribs. And since there were no way to know if she was fully healed or not, they figured it had to do with her injuries. Though, Obito grew impatient._

" _This is the fifth time we stopped. You should just have stayed in the Village if you were going to slow us down."_

" _Obito! She is still not fully healed. Let her be. We don't have to hurry anyway." Rin stepped in to her defence._

" _That's what I mean! If she is not feeling well enough, she should have just stayed!"_

 _Taileah had finally calmed down. She began moving forward, almost to desperately. If she was to do this, she wanted it to be over quick._

" _See, that didn't take to long." Rin followed her new teammate. Obito huffed before following them. Minato waited in front and continued as they caught up, but Kakashi stayed in the back where he could observe Taileah. He noticed her anxious eyes the closer to the border they came, but he kept quiet._

 _They were almost there. They had only a few hours left before they reached their destination. They had to stop another three times. Kakashi was sure it had nothing to do with her health, at least not her physical health, as they had to stop more often the closer the border they came._

 _Taileah stopped again. This time though, she didn't just take a breather. She curled up into a ball as she grabbed her head. She started to panic. No! She was not going there again! She refused!_

 _Her breathing became more ragged, her body started shaking violently and tears fell from her eyes._

" _Sensei!" Kakashi called as he stopped beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder. This, however, only made it worse. She started screaming in panic, flinging her arms around her. Her eyes full of fear._

 _Minato hurried as he heard him call and her scream. This was serious! "Hey! Taileah! It's us! Calm down!" he tried coaxing and calming her. Nothing. She could not hear or understand anything. "She's having a panic attack. We need to get her out of here" he told the team as he picked her up and ran the opposite direction._

 _What could have happened to her to make her panic like this? Kakashi stayed just behind. Obito stood in chock. Rin cried._

* * *

Another day passed by. Kakashi were still by the river. The bathing of her forehead seemed to have no effect, but he still continued to do so.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked as he wiped her face. When she left so many years ago, she said she needed to find something. She did not know where to look, and she did not tell him what it was. But it was important to her. He wanted to go too, but she refused. She had to do it alone. That was the last time they saw each other in 16 years.

"Whatever it was, I hope you found it."

* * *

 **End of chapter 4. Will Kakashi be able the hide until Taileah wakes up, or will they be found? Why did she get a panic attack at the border to the Land of Sound?**

 **Author's note: Yesterday I did not upload a new chapter. Instead I focused on editing the three that I had I found after I posted them that they were full of errors. So before I had uploaded more chapters I felt the need to fix them first.**

 **I have the whole story figured out, so it is not that I don't know how to continue This is a story I wrote (in far less detail) many years ago.**

 **Thank you for your time to read this story. I hope you enjoy it :)**


	5. This certainly is a problem

_They had to travel really far back for Taileah to finally start screaming. They found a good place to rest. Minato put Taileah down by a tree, where she curled up with her hands still tearing at her head. Dried blood were evidence of her pulling and scratching at her head, making herself bleed._

 _Obito took a walk nearby. He felt guilty. He had blamed her for slowing them down when she apparently stopped to brace herself for… whatever it was she had panic about._

 _Kakashi observed Obito for a while before he walked up to him from behind._

" _What do you want?" Obito asked without turning around._

" _Actually… I wanted to talk to you." Kakashi said quite embarrassed._

" _Yeah? You want to blame me. Yell at me for making it worse? Newsflash for you, you don't have to. I know I screwed up. Okay?" Obito were fuming. He yelled at his friend, but in reality he yelled at himself._

" _No, that's not it. I don't think this is your fault at all."_

" _Really? Then what did you want to talk about?"_

" _I just… Wanted to say… That I'm not blaming you. I think this would have happened either way." Kakashi eventually said. He tried to comfort Obito, even though they didn't always see eye to eye with each other. He just didn't want him to blame himself for something that neither of them could have any control over._

" _Well…"_

" _If you walk around sulking it will compromise the mission", Kakashi cut him of as he turned around and spoke. He couldn't show Obito how he was embarrassed._

 _Obito saw Kakashi walk towards the other. He was confused, but the last comment made him sound like himself. So he brushed it of with a shrug before running back to the others as well._

* * *

The team of four had search for a whole day. They had gone their separate ways to find Kakashi and the woman. They had no luck anywhere.

They figured he wouldn't take her to a Village, since she apparently had a price on her head, so they had to be somewhere out in nature.

"Gaaaah! I give up! Kakashi-sensei, where are you?!" Naruto yelled out in frustration. The forest felt eternal. There was no way they would find them.

"You idiot!" Sakura said and hit him on the head.

"But Sakura-chan! We will never find them. Kakashi-sensei could have ran far away by now." he whined as he rubbed his new bump.

He was right, and she new it. There was a chance that they would never find them.

"Let's wait for the others at our rendezvous spot", Sakura said weakly. She didn't want to give up, but this situation was not looking good.

* * *

"I think we should get going soon", Kakashi said to an unconscious Taileah. Her fever had finally lowered, the shivers had became less violent and the foot had become less swollen. This was a good sign. A few more days and she would be fully restored.

This meant though that he needed to run and hide for the next days. He wished he could bring her somewhere safe, but there were no such place. Not that he knew about anyway.

A sudden scream and calling of his name put him on alert. They were close, yet not close enough for him to hurry away.

"I guess we should get going now."

A minute later, there were no signs of anyone having spent the night at the river.

* * *

" _I'm sorry!" Taileah had calmed down from her panic attack and was now crying in embarrassment and regret. Because she didn't trust them, she didn't tell them. Because of that, they could have been in serious danger if they were to be attacked. Because of her, they couldn't finish the mission, unless they left her there._

" _Listen to me", Minato softly called for her attention._

 _She looked at him. Was he going to say she couldn't stay anymore? She started to think of possible escape routes._

" _I don't know what happened, and if you don't want to talk about it that's okay. But if you are not comfortable with a mission you need to tell us", he still spoke very softly. He gave her one last look of consolidation before walking back to the others._

 _Why did they not treat her like everyone else? Why were they so nice? She hated them. She started to think there was something going on with them. No one would ever treat her like a person, they must be plotting something. She became angry, but made a decision. At night, she would be gone._

 _Night came, and Taileah had not moved from her spot. She had refused to eat or drink anything they would bring her. She kept a close eye on them, waiting as if they would do something if she didn't._

 _A few hours later, there were only Obito left. He had the current watch, and she knew that he wouldn't do anything. He wouldn't dare._

 _Slowly she started to move her stiff arms and legs, careful to not make any sound. Obito had his back at her and only moved his head when there was a sound._

 _She jumped onto a branch, stopped to see if he had heard her. When she felt like the coast was clear she slowly jumped from branch to branch, slowly growing the distance between herself and them._

 _She stopped for a few seconds as it felt like she was followed. She looked around but saw nothing. She listened but heard nothing. She sensed no presence, but it still felt really strange. Just as she was going to jump again, someone grabbed her, locking her arms to her chest._

 _This made her scream in rage. Who dared to touch her? "You bastard! Let me go!" she screamed furiously. She tried to kick whoever had grabbed her, she banged her head against the person's chest, she tried to wriggle loose. Nothing worked. She screamed, as if she was possessed, for a very long time before her anger became frustration, frustration eventually turning to sadness as sadness turned to hopelessness. She cried, still screaming to be released._

 _Once she stopped screaming and struggling, t_ _he person who held her started to loosen their grip a little._

" _Please, let me go", she cried. Her sobs turning less angry to more sad._

 _She felt the grip on her arms to let go fully. She was spun around and found a teary eyed Minato. He had been the one to stop her, to hold her. She couldn't take it anymore and hugged him as she began sobbing again. Minato hugged her back, not asking any questions. He felt tears going down his cheeks._

* * *

Another day passed and no sign of Kakashi and the woman. Shikamaru started to feel stressed, as they were out of time. A new team would have been dispatched by now and looking for them.

He met up with the others by a river, and Shikamaru was right. Just a few moments after they gathered, a new team had arrived.

Hyuga Hinata, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba on Akamarus back stood before them.

"What are you guys doing here?" Naruto asked.

"We were sent here to find the one you cannot" Kiba answered as if challenging him with Akamaru making a low growl.

"This mission is not that easy", Sakura answered.

"For you that is."

"Uhm… Kiba-kun…" Hinata tried to calm the situation.

Shikamaru stepped in between them. He did not have any patience for these idiots. They had much more important things to do than to act like children arguing over whose father were best.

"That's enough you two. We don't have time for this, and we could actually need their help." Shikamarus word threw both Kiba and Naruto of. He turned to look at them. "Hinata, I need your byakugan to search for Kakashi-sensei. Sai will bring you over the treetops for a better view. Kiba, I need you to try to find his smell from the ground. You have your radios with you?"

"Yeah, but why are we looking for Kakashi-sensei? What's he got to do with this?" Kiba took out his radio along with the others. They exchanged frequency for communication. "Isn't this a mission to find a criminal?"

"That's why we need to find him."

Kiba looked confused. He did not understand at all, but if there were one thing he knew it was to trust Shikamarus words.

Sai draw a bird on his scroll, releasing it with his 'Super Beast' ninjutsu. He and Hinata climbed onto the birds back before flying away.

Kiba had remembered Kakashis scent from another time, and took of with Akamaru to find him. Shino were left behind, but not forgotten. Shikamaru briefed him of the situation.

"This certainly is a problem", he answered.

"That's why we need to find him. If we find him, we find her", Shikamaru said. He did not know what else to do for now. First they needed to find them, then they could figure out how they could proceed.

* * *

Taileah woke up inside a dark cave. Realizing what had happened before, she became worried she had been captured. She started calling for Kakashi to see if he was with her. If he wasn't, she was captured. If she wasn't, then he wouldn't leave her side. She called again, louder and more desperate, and suddenly he showed his face. She sighed in relief. He had not been injured and she was not in a cage.

"I'm sorry it's dark", he said as he crouched beside her. "I know you hate it, but I didn't think you would recover this fast."

"No, it's okay. I'm fine", she answered, giving him a grateful look. She had not seen him for so long, she really had missed him.

Sounds of a dog's bark could be heard in the distance. Kakashi knew what this meant. He sighed as he got kind of annoyed. He was alone with her finally for the first time in years. Why couldn't they be left alone?

He gave her a look of apology, and began moving out of the cave.

She quickly grabbed his arm. "Wait! Don't leave me here. I can't be in here alone!"

He saw her shrink to her 12 year old self. The girl who was traumatized, full of fears and insecurities and who didn't adjust until a few years later. He gave her a hug as he kissed her temple before he left the cave, leaving her to have another traumatizing experience in the dark alone. He reminded himself to kick himself for putting her trough that.

It didn't take long for them to be found. Kiba was first on scene, with Sai and Hinata just behind. Behind them the rest arrived.

* * *

" _I'm really disappointed with you. You have never failed a mission before, and now you come here saying you can't even begin it?" the Third did not believe his ears. Just a day had gone when Minato suddenly rushed unannounced into his office, claiming he needed to transfer this mission to another team._

" _Yes. I'm saying that as Taileah is on my team, we cannot do any missions or requests even near the border to the Land of Sound. Something happened there to bring her to panic at self harm level. She ripped her scalp of for crying out loud." Minato slammed his hands on the Hokages desk. He was desperate. He did not want this happen again._

" _So, because she can't enter the country, you can't do missions there?"_

" _Exactly. Since she is my responsibility I can't leave her here. If she comes and have another panic attack, it would put the entire team in danger."_

 _Again, the Third knew he had a point. Now he needed to decide; to withdraw his best team doing the hardest missions, which happened to be at the borde to the Sound, or let this girl roam around the Village without Minato being able to keep an eye on her?_

* * *

 **End of chapter 5. What will happen now? Will they capture her or offer her to come to Konoha?**


	6. Take her away!

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"Why not?" Kakashi simply asked back. He leaned against the mountain with his arm crossed. He didn't look surprised that they had followed them at all.

"You do know that your actions is considered treason against the Village?" Shikamaru stated.

"So?"

His answer threw them aback. He seriously were okay with being a traitor because of one woman?

"Kakashi-sensei! You can't be serious? Have you lost your mind?" Naruto yelled in anger.

Kakashi did not answer. What was he supposed to say? No one had listened twenty years ago. Why would they now?

* * *

Taileah heard the conversation outside. She knew they had figured out that she was there as well. The word 'traitor' hit her hard. She had been branded and cursed as a traitor her whole life. She couldn't stand having her closest friend being branded as well because of her.

She made a decision.

* * *

Akamaru started growling all of a sudden.

"What is it?" Kiba asked just before he felt a new unknown scent coming from inside the mountain. The scent grew stronger. "Something's coming!"

Out from the dark walked the woman they had chased. She was walking like nothing had happened, her bruises and cuts gone. There were no sign of her being in a state of near death just yesterday. She looked at them with a serious expression, before she turned to Kakashi and smiled.

"I'm sorry, but I can't have you being branded like me. I appreciate everything you've done", she gave him a kiss on his cheek and turned to the others. "I give up. You have captured me. I will follow you."

Kakashi wanted to stop her, but there was nothing he could do as he watched a confused Naruto calling out two clones and put chains on her hands.

Kiba stared at the scene unfolding. What had just happened? Well… Whatever it was, they had succeeded in capturing the criminal. He cheered, but was left alone to celebrate.

* * *

Shino and Kiba walked in front with the woman. In the back walked a disappointed Naruto and Sakura, with their former teacher between them. Shikamaru had bound his hands as a sign of his crime; protecting and helping a criminal.

Except for Kibas cheers, the rest walked quietly.

* * *

 _The Third decided that he couldn't pull his best team from the frontlines. Therefore they had to leave Taileah in the Village alone. This angered Minato, since he didn't want to leave her behind. And definitely not leave her where they knew she was not safe._

 _They had compromised enough so that she would not be locked up. Instead she would be monitored by a bunch of people, making sure she didn't do anything to harm anyone._

 _Minato and his team had been gone a few days. They had to force Kakashi to come with. He refused to leave her alone, but the mission came first and this he knew._

 _This was the first day she had taken a walk outside of her shack. She was not given a house or apartment, but a small storage unit close to the east gate. In her storage room she fit a small bed and a little table. She could not close the unit fully as her 'guards' would not be able to see her every movement._

 _Taileah was annoyed at this. She had first decided to stay in her schack until Minato and the others came back. But after two days with nothing but a bed she became so bored. She decided to take a stroll._

 _It was a sunny day. Just enough clouds in the sky. She walked through the park, watching as a couple of children played and laughed. She had never played with anyone. She had been stuck inside a dark room most of her life. She kept her distance from people, afraid that she would accidentally bump into someone if she did not. She had enough lives in her hands. She didn't need anymore._

 _As she came closer to the centre, more and more eyes fell on her. She walked through alleyways and kept herself close to the walls of the buildings, just to keep herself distant from other people._

 _It began when she walked through another alleyway. She was cornered by middle aged men and women, blocking both ways out. She didn't show any signs of being afraid, as she knew they wouldn't touch her or kill her._

" _Get out of here!" a man yelled at her. The men and women cheered him on. "No one wants you here! You should just be locked up!" More cheers. Taileah didn't even bother answering. It would only make it worse._

 _Suddenly, a big rock hit her backhead. She stumbled forwards from the impact, but quickly found her balance. Another rock hit her from the front. The men and women had gathered large rocks to throw at her, making it clear that she was not wanted._ _Some of the rocks she dodged, but she got hit by most of them. She could have easily avoided them, but if she did the rocks would have hit the people on the other side. So she chose to get hit. She also knew that the people watching over her wouldn't do anything, as they felt the same as the people of the Village._

 _Once there were no more rocks the mob ran away, leaving an injured Taileah. Blood running from her head. She was covered in bruises from head to toe, but she chose this. She turned around and walked back to her little shack with a straight back. To keep herself from being depressed, she needed to be positive. She had saved people from injuries by taking the hits. She had done something good._

* * *

As they got closer to the Village, Sakura and Naruto grew more anxious. They didn't want their teacher to get punished, but there was nothing they could do about it. He chose this, so he had to face it.

Outside the gates the were met by ANBU who took over the woman's chains. Then they walked her through the Village, with the rest of the group behind. Sakura and Naruto still kept close to Kakashi, and they noticed how people whispered as they walked pass crowds of people.

Out of nowhere, a rock was thrown to hit the woman straight in the head. Naruto and Sakura gasped both, Kakashi glared in the direction the rock had come from. The ANBU did nothing. Then another rock hit her again, then another. Suddenly it started to fly rocks from all over.

"Why won't ANBU stop them?" Sakura asked.

"Why won't she dodge them?" Naruto growled.

"They won't do anything since they feel the same way. She won't dodge them since then they would hit other people", Kakashi sighed. He wanted to stop them, but there was nothing he could do in his state, and he knew Taileah wouldn't stop getting hit.

* * *

When they reached the stairs of the Hokages building, Taileah had been hit so many times her hair had turned blood colored. She hadn't flinched or reacted even once on their way their. Naruto was furious. How could the people treat her like that, and the ANBU escorting her not doing anything about it?

Tsunade met them by the stairs when they arrived. She stood with her arms crossed, looking like she was angry about something. Though, she had been briefed about the situation with Kakashi. She had to deal with that later.

"So, you have come back? What do you want this time?" Tsunade asked Taileah.

"I actually didn't want anything. But since you asked, I heard there is something for me here in the Hokage's office. I believe there were a letter from the Forth?"

"There is nothing for you here!" Tsunade yelled. It was obvious that she was hiding something.

"Really?" Taileah shrugged. " I guess Kushina was lying then when she said that Minato had left something for me in his office. But well, it's been seventeen years since then."

Had Naruto's father left a letter for her in his office? She also knew his mother!? Naruto almost freaked out. He needed to know their relationship. He needed to know as fast as possible.

"There is no such thing here" Tsunade still insisted, annoyed at how this criminal could easily bring up the names of the Villages heroes as if she knew them. "I am sending you to ANBUs cells, to hide you away from the world. You have nothing to pick up from here. It was stupid of you to think you would be welcomed here. The welcome you got is enough evidence. Take her away!" Tsunade ordered, and with that she turned around and walked towards the building.

"Wait!" Naruto yelled. Tsunade ignored him, but stopped.

"Bring Kakashi to my office!" she called before entering. Two new ANBU jumped in front of them to lead Kakashi to the Hokage's office. Naruto tried to follow but was stopped.

Shikamaru walked up to Naruto, placing a hand on his shoulder. He knew what Naruto wanted. There was nothing they could do about it though. The woman would be locked away somewhere secret, and Kakashi would be punished.

* * *

In the Hokage's office, Tsunade sat at her desk and stared at Kakashi, still being held by two ANBU.

"What is the meaning of your actions?" she soon asked.

"Nothing. Just helping a friend. And I would do it again and again" Kakashi simply shrugged.

"Why? She is dangerous. Why would you even go near her?"

"Because I know her. And so did Minato-sensei, and the Third. It was originally the Third letting her stay in Konoha after Minato-sensei begged him you know?"

Tsunade flinched. Of course she knew. She just couldn't understand why.

"And I know for a fact that there is a letter for Taileah here. I've seen it myself" he looked her serious in the eye.

"You call her by name? She is a traitor to her clan! She is a mass murderer, and you still want to defend her?"

* * *

Outside the window satt Naruto eavesdropping. He needed to know who she was. If she knew his parents, he needed to talk to her. Maybe he could figure out where she was. What he didn't counted on was hearing Tsunade yell in anger. What had she said? A mass murderer? The woman was a traitor? What had she done?

And there really were a letter to her from his father. If Tsunade wouldn't confess about it, Naruto would just have to look for it. Maybe he could get the answers he wanted by reading the letter.

* * *

"Taileah is my friend. Of course I would call her by name. I know what happened, but I also know that what happened was not her fault."

"I don't care! She did it, and she should be punished for it. If I could, I would sentence her to death. But you know as much as I do that I can't do that."

* * *

Naruto remembered that Tsunade had said to not kill her when they were sent out o look. He figured that they just wanted her alive. Not that it actually meant that there was no way for them to do it. Was she immortal?

* * *

"So, what are my punishment?" Kakashi finally asked, giving up on trying to persuade the Fifth. It was no idea, since they had all decided that Taileah was a dangerous criminal and should be treated as one.

"I should ban you from this Village, but if I do I suspect you would just run back in here to get her. So I won't. I'm going to let the ANBU deal with you for now." Tsunade just waved her hands at them, a sign that they should just leave. The ANBU bowed before taking Kakashi with them.

* * *

This was his chance. Naruto could just follow them to their headquarters. If he found where ANBU hid their cells, he could find the woman. What did Kakashi-sensei say her name was? Taileah? Anyway, his new mission was to find her, and find the letter.

* * *

 **End of chapter 6. Naruto have now a new mission, to find the truth! Will he find her? Will they find the letter? And what could be written in it?**


	7. Welcome to our home

_By the time Minato and his team got back, it had been three weeks. As soon as they arrived, Kakashi ran of looking for Taileah. Rin followed him close as she too wanted to say hi to their new friend. Obito still had his reservations against her, but still followed. Minato shook his head with a smile as he made his way to the Hokage building._

 _Kakashi, Rin and Obito looked everywhere, not knowing where to start. They didn't know about her shack, but their guess was that the Third had placed her isolated from the rest. As they made their way through the Village on the roofs, they soon noticed several Jonins gathered at one spot, not moving. Some were laughing and clapping. Maybe there were some kind of funny show there?_

 _They got curious and moved closer, but the closer they came the more sinister the scene became. They heard children screaming things like 'monster' or 'traitor' followed by thuds, to which the Jonins cheered. Once they were close enough to realize what was going on, both Kakashi and Obito became furious. They jump straight pass the adults and landed right by Taileahs side. She stood up with support of the wall. The children stopped, dropping what they had in their hands and ran in fear. The Jonins on the roofs scuffed, being annoyed that their entertainment had ended._

 _Rin landed right beside Taileah and grabbed her arm, putting it around her neck. Taileah flinched, but didn't protest this time. She was relieved that this torture was over for this time. Though she knew it was not totally over. There would be more situations like this._

" _You idiot! Why didn't you defend yourself? Or at least dodge?" Obito yelled at her. She looked at him._

" _If I had, they would have come up with excuses to why it was my fault", she simply answered. This was the truth as it had happened. The second time she was cornered and assaulted she had dodged a stick that had hit another in the eye. They made it out to be her fault because she moved. Had she been still the man had not been hit._

" _And why would your guards not help you?"_

" _Because they are not there to help me, but to monitor me. They don't trust me."_

" _Let's get you home so you can heal up", Rin said starting to walk. "Where is your place?"_

 _Taileah didn't realize how much her head hurt and had been damaged as it all became blurry when they started walking. She almost fell over, but managed to find her footing as Rin supported her. "East gate", she just answered._

 _When they reached the east gate they found what looked like a broken box. Taileah staggered to the box and went inside to lay down. Rin looked in disbelief at what appeared to be a small broken storage unit where her friend apparently lived in. How could they be so cruel? They soon realized she had nothing but a bed and a very small table inside. There were no space for anything else, and the roof was way too low for anyone. It was high enough so you could sit on the bed if you crouched your neck. They also noticed no doors. When they looked around, they saw the Jonins who had cheered when she was assaulted standing on the opposite side of her shack. They kept an eye on her at all times._

 _Taileah was right, they did not trust her._

* * *

Naruto waited until late night. He decided to look for the letter first. Once he knew the office building were empty, he snuck inside. He went straight to the Hokage's office, where he searched every drawer in the desk. Nothing. He searched through the bookcases but found nothing.

"Maybe it is in the archives?" he thought. He walked as quietly as he could out of the office. As he reached the archives he found the door locked. Unless he destroyed the door, there was no way for him to enter. He had to give up this time, though he didn't want to.

Sounds of footsteps made him get out of there quickly. He couldn't be discovered. He ran as quietly as he could back to the office where he left through the window.

Had he stayed though, he would not have had to run as the one making the footsteps was another who sought the truth. The footsteps stopped outside the archives, and a click was evident that the door had been unlocked.

* * *

It was dark. Taileah had a hard time not to panic. Every time she was put inside a cell or cage it was dark. Why did they always insist on that? Could she not at least get a candle?

Footsteps closed in on her small cell. She had not moved since she arrived and had placed herself on the floor straight across the door. The footsteps stopped and a small window on the door was opened, letting small rays of light inside. "Attach the chains to the wall", she was ordered. She did as told. She wanted light. She hated the dark.

Once the chains still on her vrists had been successfully attached to the loops in the wall, the window of the door was shut. With keys rustling and a click later, the door opened. One ANBU walked in first to see if the chains were properly attached. Then, the Fifth Hokage walked inside.

Taileah's hair still had the color of blood, but the wounds had been completely healed. Even without her hands she could heal small wounds, and this annoyed Tsunade.

"What an honor to be visited by the leader of this Village", Taileah said sarcastically. There was a reason why Tsunade had come here, and Taileah believed she knew why.

"Don't play games. You are here because I decided. I came to inform you that tomorrow you will be required to provide with three vials of blood by morning and by evening. You are to be fully cooperative. "

Even though Taileah saw it coming, she still became afraid. There was no way she would go through more experiments. She had enough of that from the one who kidnapped her as an infant. Being injected with diseases, having her fingers and toes cut of to see if they grew back. No! She would not go through that again!

"No", she simply stated.

"You will!" Tsunade said, raising her voice. She had flinched as this woman had answered and it made her angry.

"No, I will not. I've spent enough time being a guinea pig. I won't do it again. I am happy though to provide answers and show you what you want to know."

"You will do as I say. There is no way I will listen to you. I will find out what I want on my own!" With this Tsunade stomped out of the cell and slammed the door shut. Taileah was once again, left in the dark. But this time she was still chained up.

* * *

" _What is going on?" Minato was furious once he found out the state of Taileah and where she had been placed to live. There was no way he would let her stay there. "Come with me! You will not stay like this. You will come with me to my home. I should have just taken you there in the first place."_

 _The guards showed themselves after his statement, trying to persuade him. She could not live with other people. What she had now was good enough. If she was moved, they would not be able to keep an eye on her._

" _She will come with me. And if I hear about another assault where you do nothing to stop it, I will have your asses stripped of your titles", he said as he simply grabbed Taileahs hand and started walking toward his own private house. She had no time to protest against the sudden touch. As they walked away, the Jonins were left in fear._

" _How did you know?" she asked him as they had walked for quite a bit. Minato let her hand go._

" _I heard people talking. They called you horrible things, and they laughed when the bragged about how they had hit you", Minato stopped and turned to look at her. "I'm sorry. It should not have happened. You don't deserve it. I should not have left you here alone."_

 _Taileah gave him a reassuring smile. He was so sincere, she couldn't blame him. "It's not your fault. I figured it would happen sooner or later."_

 _Minato looked her in her eyes. "How can you be so positive?"_

" _Because, I saved a lot of people. Had I not taken the hits, they would have hit each other and gotten seriously hurt."_

 _He could not stop himself as he hugged her while laughing. "You are so wonderful and sweet, I can't believe it."_

 _She did not shake him off this time. Instead she hugged back._

 _They continued to walk and soon reached a house. It was not far from the town, but it was not too close either. Minato opened the door and urged her to enter. It was bright and warm inside. It felt welcomed. The atmosphere hugged her, giving her a sense of comfort. In the kitchen there were sounds of water running._

" _I'm home!" he called. "I have brought a guest."_

 _The water stopped and a woman with long red hair appeared through the door. She looked surprised at the young girl._

" _Kushina, this is Taileah. The girl I have talked about. Taileah, this is Kushina, my fiancée."_

 _Kushina gave a suspicious eye at Taileah, making her shy and insecure. Then Kushina threw herself at the girl, giving her a big hug. "Welcome to our home. I hope you are hungry. I have just made dinner."_

* * *

Being a former ANBU had its perks, as Kakashi got a comfortable room with plenty of space. He got a big bed, a desk with a chair. He even had a small wardrobe. The door was still locked, but he knew he had it far better than Taileah did. He laid on his on the bed, staring at the wall. He wished he could do something about her situation. There had to be something. He had tried to plead with Tsunade-sama, but she wouldn't listen. He spoke with the ANBU escorting him, and they just shrugged their shoulders. There appeared to be nothing he could do.

The door clicked open, and an ANBU entered. Kakashi sat up.

"You have a visitor", he simply said and left.

Kakashi raised his eyebrow as Shikamaru walked in. They were left alone in the room.

"I figured you would come, but not this soon", Kakashi said.

Shikamaru walked up to his bed, pulled the chair from the desk and sat on it. He looked at his senior for some time before he spoke. "I need to know the truth. What did she do and what is this curse they speak about?"

Kakashi sighed. "It is a long story, and not really mine to tell" he simply said. He wondered what Taileah would think if he told someone. She wanted it to be a secret as much as possible. If the truth came out, it would only make the situation worse.

"Still, I can't ask her as I have no idea where she is. And you are the only one left that can tell the truth. How do you know her, and why does she speak like she knows the Fourth?"

"Because she does." Kakashi made himself more comfortable on the bed, leaning against the wall as he could look at Shikamaru's expressions. "We found her one day and brought her here. It was thanks to Minato-sensei that she got permission to stay here. She became a temporary fourth member of our team. A couple of months later she was offered to stay with Minato-sensei. She accepted and lived in Konoha for four years before being chased out of the Village as the Nine Tails hit. She offered her help but people almost killed her in panic, so she left."

Shikamaru was shocked. This story just became farm more complicated than he ever could have imagined.

* * *

 **End of chapter 7. Is the mystery finally getting solved? Questions getting answered? What could happen if Shikamaru and Naruto worked together to solve this?**


	8. I really miss you two

" _This will be your room for as long as you want to stay", Kushina showed Taileah a room, four times the size of her shack she had now. Not only could a normal sized bed fit, but also some shelves, a desk and chair and a wardrobe. The walls were painted in a bright shade of yellow. The bed were placed under the window. It was the most beautiful room she had ever seen. Was it really okay for her to live there?_

 _She looked at Kushina with a questionable expression. This was too good to be true._

" _Yes, this is true. We will try to always stay at least one of us at home with you if there is a mission you feel like you can't do. If we both are gone you can stay here, it might be boring though. But there are still some things to do, like read books, training in the backyard. You'll figure something out when the time comes. I'll leave you alone now so you can get used to your new room."_

 _Taileah was left alone in the room. The lights were on, and the door to the room was left opened. Kushina had not closed it due to Minato's urges._

 _She stood by the door and let her eyes wander. This was the biggest room she had ever been presented with, and it was all for her? She let her eyes wander to the shelves, where she found books about history, jutsus and different bloodlines. She wondered if her own were written in it, so she pulled it out to look. As she flipped through the pages she happened to see her clan. She dropped the book unintentionally as she panicked. Even though she was curious about her legacy, she was afraid to know what it said. Would it mention her? Or what had happened to her clan?_

 _She closed the book and put it back on the shelf before she ran to the bathroom to throw up. She had not eaten a steady meal in a very long time, and the fear of her sins being public information was the trigger. Kushina heard and ran to her side. She sat down by the crying girl and stroke soothing circles on her back._

" _It's okay. I guess it will take some time for you to get used to steady meals. But it'll be fine. I'll be here for you."_

* * *

The day became night, and Taileah was still chained up against the wall. She guessed that the Fifth had ordered her to be left like that until she would cooperate, which meant that she would never be released. Taileah sighed. Well, this wasn't that bad. Even though she was chained up, at least she had room to move around a little. The cages she had been put in before had been extremely small. Once she even had been forced inside a wooden box that was nailed shut. She shivered at the memory. That time was certainly amongst the top worst.

As time went by, Taileah grew hungry. She didn't say anything though. She figured she would be denied anything to eat. So she did what she always used to do when she became hungry; she fantasized about Kushina's home-cooked food, making herself full by the thought. It worked only short term, but it still worked.

She sighed. "I really miss you two."

* * *

Tsunade sat at her favorite bar and was now on her third bottle of Sake. Beside her sat Shizune who tried to calm her down.

"I just can't understand! She is a murderer! Why are they defending her?" Tsunade said and drank another cup.

Shizune tried to calm her yet again to no avail. Behind them walked a two familiar faces, and placed themselves beside the drunk Hokage.

Yamato and Might Guy had bumped into each other after what had happened earlier. Guy considered himself a good friend of Taileah and could not agree with what had happened earlier. Yamato was worried about his senior.

"What do you want?" Tsunade asked without giving them a look.

"I cannot stand behind you with how you treated my friend", Guy said while looking at the head of the Village.

"He only had himself to blame as he went against the Village and helped a criminal."

"I was not talking about Kakashi."

Finally she turned her head to look at the man next to her. He had a serious expression.

"Who are you talking about?"

"My friend who is now somewhere hidden. I guarantee you she is no danger to her allies."

Tsunade exploded. How come everyone defended that traitor? She yelled and screamed until Shizune had to take her out from the bar. This was no way a leader should act.

Shizune brought Tsunade home and helped her lay down on the bed.

"Why is everyone defending her, when I can't? Tsunade said as Shizune took off her shoes. "I want to believe in her too. If it weren't for the elders…" she passed out in the middle of her sentence. Shizune gave her a motherly look. She knew that Taileah was like an idol to her.

"If it weren't for the elders, you would like to have her teach you instead of forcing her."

* * *

 _A year went by, and Taileah still lived with Kushina and Minato. She insisted ever day that she would move out and find her own place, while they insisted she stayed. They knew that she would be placed in the storage box if she moved out._

 _In her room, she had gotten new books and clothes. She had refused when they bought something home for her, but they had just ignored it and left it in her room._

 _On the day of her one year anniversary of moving in to the Namikaze-Uzumaki household, she was given a mission. This time, it was a mission to determine her rank. Minato wanted to give her the rank of Jon in, but the elders wanted to see if she would manage a A-rank mission on her own. She had successfully cleared several D- and C-rank by herself._

 _She was nervous. She had been given a scroll with information, and had been told not to open it until she had traveled a day away from the Village in the Northwest direction. She accepted and made her preparations in her (still temporary) home. Kushina wanted to go with, but Minato had stopped her. Taileah needed to do this on her own._

 _The day came and Taileah waved goodbye as she left. She had been given a forehead protector with Konoha's symbol. She had placed it by her pouch, making sure the symbol could be seen. She didn't want to admit it, but she was proud of it. She had never had a protector before._

 _As they day grew into night, she settled down by an abandoned hut beside a mountain. She ate her dinner that Kushina had made for her before she brought out the scroll. She was nervous, but this was not the time._

 _As she opened the scroll, her heartbeat grew rapidly. She dropped the scroll in fear. Why? Why would they make her do that? She couldn't possibly do it! There was no way!_

 _She felt the panic rise. As she tried to calm her breathing and hard beating heart, she wanted to run away. At the same time she knew she couldn't. If she did, she would be kicked out of Konoha and leave everything she had fought for._

 _She decided she would do her best to complete the mission. She packed her this and continued to the borders of the Land of Sound. It was just a observation, there were no mentioning of contact or anything like that._

 _She wanted to complete this mission fast and be over with it. Never did she think she would have to get near him again, go near his hideout. She had sworn to herself she would never get close to Orochimaru again._

* * *

Shikamaru had no idea what to say. The information he just had gotten from Kakashi was just to much. He didn't know how to handle it all. He said his goodbye and left, not knowing where to go from here. He wanted to know the truth, and he got it. He had no idea though it would be this complicated.

He walked through the town in the quiet evening, still trying to process what he had heard. There were no way he could accept the fact that a five year old would be able to destroy a whole clan. Uchiha Itachi was at least a teenager when he murdered his clan, but a five year old? No way! And if it were true, why didn't anyone do something to stop it?

As he walked past a barbeque restaurant, he noticed Akimichi Choji inside. Maybe he could distract him from all this? He needed to focus on something else for now. He gave a light tap on the window by Chojis' seat, getting his attention. Choji waved at him and then urged him to join. Shikamaru did just that.

"Hey!" Choji greeted his friend as Shikamaru placed himself on the opposite side of him. "You want?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "No, thanks. I'm not hungry."

"You are never hungry when I am" Choji said and bit down on another piece of grilled meat. He noticed something was off with his friend, as his expression wandered outside but still seemed so far away. "Something wrong?"

"Not really. Just a lot on my mind. I don't know what to believe anymore."

"Then I'll give you something to believe in. When I finished this round, I'll order another. And you will join me and we will see who can eat the most", Choji said as he called for a waitress to order his fourth round.

Shikamaru smiled. He had made the right choice having his closest friend help him distract his mind. "Fine, but we both know you will win."

Choji simply smiled and finished his round, making room on the grill for the next batch of meat. "Eating together is always more delicious."

* * *

 **End of chapter 8. What truth has Shikamaru discovered? What is Taileah's relationship with Orochimaru?**


	9. I'm sorry!

The door slammed open to her cell and a stand with three vials on it were placed by her feet. Taileah looked up at the ANBU who entered the cell, giving him a questionable look.

"First of, how am I supposed to do that if I'm chained to the wall like this?" she pulled on her hands, giving a demonstration of being unable to move. "Second of all, I already told your leader that I won't do it."

"You will, or we will", the ANBU answered.

"How? You are afraid to even get close to me. How will you make me bleed?"

The man in the mask simply took out a kunai, throwing it at her hand. He kicked the vials beneath her hand, as he pulled a string attached to the weapon. Her blood began to run down her hand, down her arm and finally into the vials. Once he was satisfied with the amount, he pulled the stand to him. He made sure he did not touch the blood as he picked the stand up and left the room, locking the door again.

She had kind of anticipated this. She did not think they were total idiots. But they still were."

Idiot", she shook her head as she made preparations for her escape. With his mistake to take the kunai with him, it would be far too easy.

* * *

 _As she closed her distance to the border between the two countries, it became more difficult to breath. She had no choice though, as she had to do this mission. Even though she only needed to observe his hideout for suspicious activity for a few days, she still knew that he would be there._

 _She stopped for a quick breather and took a look at the scroll again. She had read it many times already, but it was still too hard to get her head around it._

 _Then something hit her. They had told her to go northwest, and then open the scroll. Inside there were only a brief description of the mission; get close to Orochimaru's hideout and keep an eye on him for three days. Take notes if anything suspicious is noticed, and avoid as much contact as possible._

 _There were no mentioning that his hideout were in the Land of Sound. He wasn't even considered a rogue ninja. Why send her there? And why observe him?_

 _Since there were nothing she could do about it, she had to do it. Even though she didn't want to. Instead she wanted to go home._

…

 _Home? Had she unconsciously started to feel like the Namikaze-Uzumaki household was her home? They were nice, and they treated her as a person. Home? Maybe they were her home._

 _With a smile on her lips, she moved forward. She eagerly wanted to complete this mission fast so she could go back. So she could say "I'm home"._

* * *

Kakashi stood by the window, looking at the Stone faces of the previous Hokage. "Well… I guess the truth will come out soon. Don't you?"

Rustling of keys made him turn around. He watched as an ANBU walked in first, with Shikamaru right behind.

"We have a problem", the ANBU said. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Taileah has escaped. We don't know how but she has. We don't know where she is, but we need you to find her as you know her best", Shikamaru said with great effort not to smile. Kakashi noticed and figured out what was going on. She had escaped somehow, and Shikamaru had pleaded with Tsunade-sama to let Kakashi help with the search. 'Not bad', he thought.

Kakashi stepped out of his room and made their way to the exit. Shikamaru said something to the ANBU, who then left in a hurry.

"I have been tasked with guarding you, making sure you come back when she has been captured again."

They continued to walk, not really going anywhere. They didn't say anything either. They walked in silence, taking in the sites of the city. The watched how elderly men and women shopped for groceries, children dragging their mother's arms for ice-cream or candy. People having lunch at different restaurants. It was a quiet day, nothing much going on. The news of Taileahs escape had not reached the town yet, or they were too busy to care. Neither of the two believed the second option.

* * *

Taileah had escaped far too easy. With the ANBU taking the kunai with her blood on, she only had to use her jutsu, unique to her bloodline; Blood Control Technique. With it she could make items with her blood on do her bidding. Shurikens could be controlled to follow enemies. The kunai flung through the lock, spreading the blood to the door. With that the door sprung open and the kunai could destroy the chains.

There were a downside to it. It took incredible concentration and focus for it to work. It was a technique used as a last resort defense. Only those who had trained for years had gathered enough focus to maintain Blood Control while healing. This combo were incredibly sought after by others in the war.

She didn't stop until she found the abandoned hut she once had stopped by when she got her first solo A-rank mission. She still had nightmares. She had just arrived at the hideout when Orochimaru stood by the entrance calling for her. Even when she suppressed her Chakra, hiding her completely, he had know she were there. He had called her his daughter. The memories still made her shiver. There were no way she would consider him her father. If there were someone who she would call father, it would be Minato.

She had seen him just for a few seconds, but she knew immediately she saw him. He were a spot on image of his parents. She was so relieved to see him okay. The night when the Kyuubi attacked the city she once called home, the night when she was chased out the city, was the night her heart broke into a thousand pieces. The news of the Fourth and his wife's passing devastated her. She didn't know that she had given birth to a baby boy who had made it out alive. She had hid herself and cried, screamed and hurt herself for not being there. She believed for so long that the child of her saviors had died as well. If she had known he still lived, she would have been there.

She would have taken him with her out of there.

She stayed in the abandoned hut for the night. She was drained of energy from low food intake and massive concentration. Her head hurt. Some sleep would help, so she made herself as comfortable as she could and tried to sleep. They wouldn't find her on the first day. No one did, but where she was going no one would ever find her. If she could find it again.

* * *

" _Come here my child", a voice like a hiss called for her. She knew the voice. No way were she going there!_

" _If you won't come here I will come to you", Orochimaru said, still with the soft hiss in his voice._

 _Taileah felt like she had no choice. Sure, she knew he would never touch her. He had never done so after she turned four. He didn't want to be another life added to the list, so he had always kept a distance. He had let his subject handle her. It was after that time she had been a subject herself. From four years until she finally managed to escape by the age of eight she had been tested, injected, tortured, starved and kept in a cage._

 _The memories made her blood boil. She cut her hand with a kunai before stepping out. If he would try something, then so would she._

 _They stood eye to eye. She with her eyes showing hatred and body giving of a murderous intent. He with a grin on his face, arms crossed with a authoritative body language. They neither spoke or moved for a moment. It was Taileah that finally broke the ice._

" _Why?" she simply asked. It was all she could muster without freaking out or breaking down with panic._

 _His grin grew wider. "You have a very fascinating bloodline. I just wanted to understand you. And since you were so young I had to go through the tests. You understand me right?" he tried to lure her in with lies. Sure, he thought her calm and bloodline were unique and fascinating. That was just a bonus though. He wanted to make his own record of the Shima. He had been given some information when he that one time accidentally ended up in the Village hidden deep in the Mountains. They had been friendly but sceptic. He was a stranger._

" _How can I believe that? You tell me to believe that you cutting of my fingers, my toes were just a type of 'examinations' to find answered? What did you need the know? That I bleed?" she screamed in anger and frustration. He had betrayed her the night she had been sent to her own clan._

* * *

 _Four years old._

 _She entered the Village._

 _Orochimaru had shown the way._

 _He had said they wanted to hurt him and take her away._

 _She refused to being taken by them._

 _She had walked right in._

 _Four years old._

 _Night time._

 _House after house._

 _Family after family._

 _Men, women, children._

 _No one were left behind._

 _Everyone's throats were slit._

 _By the daybreak she was painted completely red._

 _No one had tried to stop her._

 _She turned and walked away._

 _No one was left behind._

 _No lives were spared._

 _This was the day that the world lost all contact with the Shima._

* * *

Taileah woke in cold sweat. It had been a while since she had that nightmare. She couldn't stop shivering as tears ran down her cheeks. "I'm sorry", she said as she cried. She apologized again and again, hoping that it would reach her clan. She was a traitor. She knew that. She was a traitor.

* * *

Shikamaru and Kakashi met up with Naruto and Sakura at the north gate. They were geared up ready to go. It was like they were going on a mission. The truth hurt more though. They were on a quest, hunting the one he sought to protect. They had only a day or two to find her before others would be dispatched. They knew this, so they had to work fast.

The four of them communicated with their eyes, urging Kakashi to take the lead. He would know best where she could be.

It was a race against the clock.

* * *

 _It had not even been five minutes, and she was found. This mission to supervise and observe did not go too well._

" _I'll have you know that before you were affected by your clans curse, I had a tracking chip installed inside you. I'll always know where you are, once you are within the range. It's been almost a years since you were last seen on my radar."_

" _You did what?"_

 _Orochimaru just gave her his famous grin. He turned around and started walking inside his hideout. Taileah stood still. She would not flow him. Orochimaru stopped and turned his head towards her._

" _By the way, I see you have become a ninja of Konoha. I would like to know how." He stood for a moment before he went inside, disappearing in the darkness. He had always kept his hideout dark. Just a few small candles spread around the walls._

 _Just as she was about to back away, she was suddenly grabbed by two large men. Two prisoners and experiments of his. They had gotten the order to take her inside. She tried to focus, but the closing darkness and the fright of what could happen inside made it impossible. She was in his hands once again._

* * *

 **End of chapter 9. Taileah murdered her own clan? Could Orochimaru be the one who abducted her? What is she looking for?** _  
_

* * *

 **Author's note: I'm sorry for the delay, some things have happened in my private life. But now I'm up at a steady schedule again.**


	10. We're running out of time

She traveled to Land of Earth. She had been searching for her clans Village for years now. She had been there twice before, but never remembered the way. The first time, she didn't even want to try to remember as it was the day of the slaughter. The second time, it was by pure accident.

* * *

She had climbed a huge mountain wall and fell through some sort of cave into a big valley. Every wall of the valley had some sort of housing. She looked around, taking in the sight. Even though it was a valley with sky access, she had not been able to find it. There had to be some sort of barrier protecting the village.

In the middle of the valley there were many overgrown plots of lands. Two dried up wells and some dead bushes were planted in between. The houses had all been carved into the mountain, but still looked really cozy.

She had only entered one house, the one closest to her. She walked through a kitchen, full with all necessary utilities. Rusty pans stood on a counter, with plates caked in dust placed next to it.

She continued through the house and found a living room with a fireplace. A few bookcases with picture frames and a few books. In a room that appeared to be a study with a desk and shelves, she found scrolls and books with her clans name on.

She took a closer look at the titles, and found a few she felt like she needed to take with her. Books named 'Bloodlines', 'Chakra for healing', 'Us Shima'. She also packed a few scrolls she felt she should read later. Scrolls with techniques, unique for her clan. In the desks drawer she had found various weapons and tools. Things that could be of use in the future. There also were a forehead protector with the Iwagakure mark on. She took it with her, even though she knew she didn't really deserve it.

She continued upstairs. She found that there were three bedrooms. One were decorated as a child's room with toys and books appropriate for small children. The bed was small and the walls was bright. The second room was decorated for an older child.

She panicked when she entered the master bedroom. What she saw haunted her to this day. On a king sized bed laid bones from two adults. The bed was colored black with old dried blood. In the corner on the other side of the room stood a crib with bones of what would have been a baby. The mattress also black with old blood.

This made her sick to the stomach. She ran out, feeling the contents of her stomach trying to get through her mouth. She managed to keep it in until she reached one of the dead bushes where she let it come up.

She had done that!

* * *

Taileah searched her memory for the image of the wall. She needed to go there again. She had to face her sins.

She found a wall that looked familiar. She started to climb, thinking that maybe she could see something with height if it were wrong. She had been around these parts many times. She felt drawn to this place, so it had to be somewhere near.

* * *

"I know you brought me with you because I know her best, but honestly I have no idea where she would go. She has been looking for something, but she never told me what", Kakashi said as they moved forward through the woods going east.

"Maybe we could figure it out where she would go?" Sakura suggested.

Shikamaru stayed silent as he tried to think. Maybe the answer were in the story Kakashi had told him.

"Does she have a home or something, or somewhere she feels safe?" Naruto asked, thinking about how he himself had ran to his own apartment or somewhere he felt safe when he was a child. Since she was hated like he had been, maybe she had hiding spots as well?

"Kakashi!" Shikamaru called as he stopped. So did the others. "Which country did you say she was born in?"

Kakashi caught on quickly. "In the Land of Earth. Near Iwagakure. Somewhere in the mountains there is a Village, the home of the Shima-clan."

"Is that a possibility?" Sakura asked.

"It definitely is. At least it is a clue", Shikamaru said. "I believe what she has been looking for all this time is her roots."

"It is extremely well hidden though. Those who entered all entered by accident and had forgotten the way since they hadn't really looked for it." Sakura continued. "If it weren't for those people, the Village would still be a rumour and a myth. I remember that story. All they remembered were that it was located somewhere near Iwa."

"What are we waiting for? We should go north!" Naruto yelled.

Kakashi and Shikamaru gave each other a nod. This was the best option they had. They turned north, continuing their quest to find her.

* * *

" _Let me go! Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" Taileah screamed as Orochimaru's prisoners carried her through the dark hideout. She hated being there. Once she had a chance she would definitely escape again._

 _She was carried to what looked like a hospital room, with a bed and various equipment. Some she recognized, some knew that she had never even seen before._

 _The prisoners placed her on the bed and chained her down, making sure she could not escape for now. She continued to struggle all she could, pulling the chains at her hands and feet._

" _Monster! Freak!" She screamed at the man by the wall, looking at some strange pictures. "You'll regret this! There is no way I will stay here!"_

 _Orochimaru turned around with a grin. He slowly walked up to her with a scroll, stamped with a sign of Konoha. Taileah froze, slowly realizing what was going on._

 _She had not been sent there on a mission for promotion._

 _She had been sent there for him to continue his experiments on._

 _She had been betrayed by the people she tried to trust._

 _They had betrayed her._

" _I see that you have realized you position. I have three days to get the answers Konoha is looking for. When the three days are up, you are to be released. You will, however, not remember anything about what happened to you. Unless you do as I say", he leaned down, still with a grin. He kept his distance safe from her touch if she moved or tried anything. He did not want to risk being another life added to the list._

 _Taileah screamed and cried in rage. The place she had felt like a home, people who she trusted had sent her here. They had sent her into His claws._

 _Orochimaru walked away, pulling the scroll open and read out loud what it said. "Let's see. They want to understand your bloodline, how powerful your Chakra really is. They also want to know the extent of your regeneration speed and how it works. They have some remarks about your curse as well", he put the scroll down and turned around. "Seems I have much to do. But don't worry, I won't kill you. I don't want all those people to die with you."_

 _He left the room. He knew she would not even try to escape now. She was far too broken from the betrayal. She had given up._

* * *

The mountain wall was really high but she would climb it and find the Valley again. She could not call it by the name of her clan still. She didn't feel worthy enough, so she only called it the Valley.

Once she reached the top plateau she took a look around at the view. It was beautiful from there. She had been up to many mountain tops and looked around, but this one took the price. Straight across her were Iwa. She knew it had to be close if she could see the main village of the country.

As she walked and climbed around the rocks and peaks, she found many caves. No cave led to the Valley though. One looked promising but she ended up almost all the way to Iwa, so she turned around. For almost a whole day passed as she searched for a cave, an opening or anything that could lead her to the place she was looking for.

The moon was rising, and Taileah was exhausted. She sat down on a rock, leaned back against the wall to rest. The wall though, seemed to disappear. She fell backwards, tumbled down a rocky tunnel until she hit the ground. She sat up and looked around.

She had found it!

* * *

 _One day had passed. Disposable prisoners had been tasked with various experiments. They had taken blood and removed fingernails and toenails. At one point Orochimaru became really curious and wanted to cut an ear off and remove an eye. But the prisoners refused to do it. They were executed on the spot and carried away by other prisoners. Yet, it happened again. It seemed that if he wanted it done, he had to do it himself. And there were no way he would touch her._

 _She was broken. Her tears had dried up from the crying. Crying of betrayal and pain. Her throat was sore from all the screaming. Her ankles and wrists had marks from the chains. Her hands and feet were covered in dried blood. She laid there, staring at the ceiling. She waited for the next 'examination' as He called it. A whole day had already passed, there were two more to go._

 _Orochimaru walked up to her and stood by her feet. He wanted to look at her, and for her to look at him. She didn't move though. She laid still like a corpse. If it weren't for her chest rising and sinking with her steady breaths, one would think she was dead._

" _Do you feel betrayed? Do you hate Konoha for doing this to you?" he said, poking where the nails would have been on her toes with a stick. He wanted to get a reaction from her, but he barely got a twitch from the foot. His grin faded. She did not give him the response he wanted. He gave her big toe another poke with the stick, harder this time. Still no reaction._

 _All resemblance of a smile disappeared. He started to get annoyed. He tried harder, but still just a small twitch._

 _She had blocked out all the pain. A technique that took great focus. A technique, unique to the Shima. Another Kekkei Genkai; Pain Blockade Healing Technique. With it, she could use the pain blocked out from one part of the body to heal another. She focused the pain from her feet, to heal her hands._

 _Orochimaru did not know about this. There were little anyone knew about the different techniques the Shima had. He smacked the stick across her toes. She still did not flinch. He threw the stick and walked away, furious. He did however, have something new to write down in his research. He needed to further investigate this._

 _She had decided to escape as soon as she were healed up. She just needed to wait for the right timing._

 _The timing ame the next day. One of the prisoners left the knife with her blood on in the same room as her. She concentrated, trying to gather enough focus for Blood Control. She tried, again and again. No results. She knew how the technique worked, she had tried multiple times, but she had never succeeded. She had to succeed now. She had to._

 _She tried again, and finally she could make the knife move a little. She mustered all focus she could, pulling the knife to her hands. It hit the lock somehow, making it break open. Before the knife hit the floor she managed to catch it._

 _Once she was free she moved quietly with haste. She had to get out of there, and fast. She did not want another day with torture. As she made her way to the exit, she searched for clues. She remembered the scroll and decided to take it with her. She found it in one of the 'examination rooms', or torture chamber as she called it. She then ran to the exit, moving as far away from the hideout as she could._

 _Before she would leave Konoha, she would have revenge. She would show them the scroll!_

* * *

They crossed the border by dusk. They reached Iwa by dawn. The morning fog laid thick against the ground. Now they just needed to figure out where to look.

Sakura suggested they should ask around for information. There could be someone who had some idea where it might be. She and Shikamaru went into the town, asking whoever they came across. No one either knew or refused to talk with them. Some even screamed to stay away from 'that cursed place'. There was one though, who had stopped out of curiosity. An old man, who wanted to know why they were searching for what some locals called by 'Ghost Town', or 'that Cursed place'.

This old man however, asked why they searched for the Shima Valley.

"Shima Valley?"

"Yes, is there any particular reason you are searching for the entry to it?" His voice sounded very curious.

"Nothing. We just wanted to see it for ourselves", Shikamaru simply answered. The old man gave a sceptical look and Shikamaru could not help thinking that he knew more than he wanted to say.

"You are close", the old man said as he started to walk away. "But if you are not one of them you won't find it. If you are not invited you will not find it. Unless you have a personal relationship with someone there."

Sakura and Shikamaru looked at each other as the old man disappeared into the crowd. They walked back to join the others, giving them the information they had gotten from the old man.

"That's it? That we are close?!" Naruto pulled his hair in frustration. "Aaaarrgh! How are we supposed to get there then? By search the entire mountain?"

"Yes. That is exactly it", Kakashi said. "We'll begin with climbing this mountain", he pointed to the one behind him.

So they decided to climb. They went for the top, not finding anything but empty caves. No footprints, nothing suggesting anyone had been there or walked there. Though, the wind could have been the reason for that. The wind blew quite hard up there as they looked for anything that could be an entrance or something. They searched the entire day until dawn when they decided to take a night's rest. The next day they still had not found anything.

"Maybe we should try another mountain?" Sakura suggested.

"Yes. I think you are right. It appears it is not here", Shikamaru agreed and looked for another mountain. "We're running out of time. Search teams will come here any day now."

* * *

From the direction of the Land of Sound, a group of bounty hunters made their way toward the Land of Earth. The leaders were the same who managed to escape from the preys reinforcements. They were not happy, but still motivated enough. The price of 100 000 000 ryou motivated them.

* * *

 **End of chapter 10. What will happen now that she found what she was looking for? Will the team find her?**


	11. What is the meaning of this?

_Taileah ran as fast as she could. Just as she exited the hideout, she heard screaming from inside. They had noticed her escape. It was just a matter of time before they would come look for her. She ran as fast as she could with what strength she had left. There were one place she could hide for now. The abandoned hut. It was in the middle of the night when she reached it. Exhausted and starving. Her equipment were left there. There were no time to grab it. She leaned against a wall and immediately fell asleep and didn't wake up until noon the next day._

 _She waited. If she came back before the three days were up they would know something was wrong. She also knew He was looking for her. The best thing to do now would be to stay hidden._

 _Taileah remembered the scroll that she took from Him. She wanted to see for herself what it said, so she opened it to reveal what it said. He had read some parts, about the examinations and such. Konoha really wanted Him to do those things._

 _She threw the scroll in rage. If they wanted to treat her as a threat, then she would act like one._

* * *

"This is the third mountain we searched!" Naruto whined. They had searched for the whole day and Shikamaru started to feel stressed. They had very little time to find them before they would be found by the dispatched search party from Konoha. Before they took of he got the information that if they had not come back in four days, search teams would be dispatched all over the world.

They needed to find her, and fast. Shikamaru also noticed the increased anxiety in both Naruto and Kakashi. Naruto was really eager to speak with her about her relationship with his parents. He needed to know.

"Aaaaarrrgh!" Naruto screamed. He grew more impatient by the minute. He hit a wall with his fist, feeling pain running from the knuckles all the way to his elbow. Sakura facepalmed at his comical way to move around in pain. She went over to a big rock next to a big wall to sit down on. She leaned back, but didn't feel anything. Instead she fell backwards.

Naruto, Kakashi and Shikamaru looked her way as she let out a surprised yelp as she fell backwards. Naruto ran to her and tried to grab her, but got there a little too late. He watched as she fell into darkness. He stared down the whole, looking for any signs of life. Listening to all kinds of noises. He called her name, hoping for her to answer.

They could not hear or see anything.

* * *

Sakura landed with a hard thud on a rocky surface. She rubbed the back of her neck as it throbbed in pain as she raised her head to look around. The scenery surprised her. Houses carved out of the mountain walls, a blue sky above. She had landed inside a huge valley. In the middle there were a huge monument made fully out of stone, looking like a sort of temple.

She looked up to try to find where she had fallen down from, but there were no evidence of some sort of openings. She stood up, dusted herself off and tried calling for them. She could not hear anything. She theorized that no sound could travel outside of the barrier that protected this space. It had to be a really powerful barrier though, given that the valley had sky access but she could swore that she had just taken a stroll up there.

Instead of waiting around she began investigation. It really was a 'Ghost town'. No signs of life anywhere. The houses were empty except of rusty kitchenware, dusty and moldy books and moth eaten clothes from many years ago. There were no signs of any sort of struggle, nor an evacuation. The people who had lived here had just suddenly disappeared.

She exited the house and made way for another house, when something caught her eye. She turned towards the temple monument and observed what looked like boxes made out of stone. She walked closer, and soon realized that the boxes looked more like coffins the closer she came.

Suddenly she felt a shiver down a spine. She stopped and turned around. In front of her stood a furious Taileah. Behind her were three more coffins. They stared at each other for some time until Taileah suddenly ignored her to place the coffins on top of each other. Sakura was about to ask when she was cut of.

"This is nothing of your concern. You need to leave. I don't know how you found this place but you are not welcome here", she said and walked away. She entered another house, disappearing into the darkness of the carved building.

Sakura followed to the entrance. "I would leave if I knew how!" She yelled.

No answer.

"We have come here to look for you! We were worried about you!" She called louder. Still no response. "Kakashi-sensei is anxious about meeting you. And Naruto wants to talk to you about the Fourth!"

Rumbling and thuds were the only sound that came from the building. Sakura dared not enter since she was not welcome here. It sounded more like a threat than a warning. She was afraid something would happen to her if she walked inside.

* * *

"SAKURA!" Naruto screamed yet again down through the darkness. He had been calling for the past ten minutes without a response. Shikamaru had told him to stop, but he still insisted. Kakashi had suggested that they go down there as well to look for her, but as Naruto tried to jump in it was like he only landed on rocks.

"The hole she fell down from maybe closed up. I think we should find another way down" Shikamaru suggested. Kakashi were already on it and tried every dark corner and wall he could find. Naruto still didn't leave the place where Sakura fell. He became angrier by the minute, feeling despair at his uselessness and slowness.

"What if she's dead?" Naruto suddenly growled. Kakashi and Shikamaru turned his way. "What if she isn't answering because she is dead!"

A gust of burning hot wind blew by. Smoke started rising from his body. Kakashi and Shikamaru knew what this meant. They gave each other a quick glance before moving close to him.

"She is not dead. There must be a barrier or something in the way", Shikamaru tried to calm him down. He moved closer still. They had no idea how to seal the Kyuubi away if Naruto would release him again. They had to distract him instead to snap him out of his anger.

"Nature chakra! Why didn't I think of it before?" Kakashi put his forehead into his hand. With that Naruto could sense if she was still alive. And maybe they could find a way to get to her if she were.

It seemed to work. Naruto calmed down a bit as they mentioned Nature Chakra. But for that, he needed to be able to concentrate to gather the chakra around him. He didn't know though how long it would take, as there seemed to be very dead terrain around them.

"Use our energy if you need", Shikamaru said making the final hit to calm him down fully. The smoke stopped and the hot wind disappeared. He had finally returned back to normal.

"You are right. I'm an idiot for not thinking of it myself", he said as he positioned himself and concentrated to absorb the energy around them. To his surprise there were plenty of energy, more than he could ever have anticipated. He didn't even need to absorb some from his friend and teacher. It only took about a few minutes until he finally entered Sage mode.

He stood up with closed eyes, concentrating on capturing Sakura's whereabouts. He could feel her chakra. It was very faint, but it was there. Straight below them, inside some sort of barrier. Shikamaru had been right with his guess. He opened his eyes. "She is alive. You were right", he said as he looked at Shikamaru, "She is inside a barrier."

"Then we just need to find a way inside it", Shikamaru replied. Naruto nodded and started to search for some sort of opening in the barrier. He could catch multiple, but they opened and closed far too fast for them to get through. Suddenly, a huge opening beside him appeared and it seemed to stay open.

"This way!" Naruto called as he jumped inside with Kakashi and Shikamaru close behind.

* * *

" _What did you say you did!?" Minato was furious. He had by accident heard of the supposedly A-rank mission that Taileah had been given from two ANBU talking and laughing about it. He had questioned them, dragged them to the Thirds office and further interrogated them in front of the Hokage._

" _What is the meaning of this? I was told to give her a A-rank mission. Now you tell me it was a trap?" The Third was equally furious. Not only had they gone behind his back, but they had send away a child to use as a human experiment. He could not tolerate this. He called for the elders for a emergency council meeting, but did not tell them about what. He had only said that it was urgent._

 _Minato was about to get Taileah back, when the Third stopped him. "Why? We need to go there to free her. This is not right!"_

" _No, it certainly is not. But I need to get their confessions first before I could do something official", he gave Minato a wink and went into the conference room to meet up with the elders. Minato understood what he meant by it. He went to find his students._

 _Inside the conference room two of the elders had gathered. They had a look of confusion and annoyance on their faces. "Why have we gathered this late in the evening?"_

 _The Third sat down in one of the empty chairs across them. He took a moment to look at them before he spoke. He couldn't believe that they had gone behind the Hokages back. "I wanted to inform you that the girl successfully got her mission and should soon be returning back ready for a promotion."_

 _The councillors looked smug, like they had done something to be proud of. "This is good news. Maybe we could start to see her as something useful."_

" _There is one problem though, and that is why I called to this meeting", he looked at the serious and saw their facial expressions change for a concerned confusion. "There are rumours going around stating that she was sent on a mission that the Hokage had no awareness of. Is that correct?"_

 _Their facial expression turned worried and pale. "No. No, not at all. Who said that?" One of the councillors tried to not sound panicked. The Third saw through this right away._

" _It's just a rumour. But out of curiosity, what was the mission again?"_

" _It was just some patrolling the border", the elderly man said while feeling cold sweat running down his face. They knew that all missions had to go through the Hokage. If they would be caught with this crime, they would be fired and sentenced as traitors._

" _Really?" the Hokage raised an eyebrow. That was it? They could not come up with a better lie?_

" _Yes, really!" the assured._

" _Then I guess we will have to wait until she comes back with her report!" He stood up and walked out of the room. He had gotten what he needed. They were lying._

* * *

 _They didn't need to travel far for them to find her. Taileah was already on her way back to confront them. She had decided that she would release hell before she would get out of there. There were only one place she could be safe, and that was her home village. Problem was only that she could not find it._

 _Kakashi was the first to lay eyes on her. They passed each other with some distance between them, but it appeared she had not seen them. Kakashi stopped and went her way, with Minato, Rin and Obito doing the same._

 _The young ninjas had been really surprised when Minato suddenly called for them, stating it was an emergency mission. He had explained roughly what was going on as they made their way north in a hurry. They didn't know that she had escaped._

 _When they realized she had escaped, and passed them by they felt a huge relief. There was something that worried Minato though. She didn't look like she usually did. This time she looked like… She sought revenge. Could it be that she had found out about the whole thing? The thought worried him. He needed to get to her fast._

* * *

 **End of chapter 11. Betrayal and broken hearts. How will this end? The team found a way in but how will Taileah react to that?**


	12. I chose this

The ground was hard and full of sand and gravel. Naruto and Shikamaru looked around in disbelief of what they saw. They noticed the open sky, but there were no way that it could been there. They had just been up there and they saw no valley like this. The mountain had disappeared and instead were a Village.

Finally, Naruto saw Sakura, called her name and ran to her. She turned around just as he jumped on her, giving her a big hug. Sakura felt relief. They had found her. She hugged back, but just for a few seconds before she realized what she was doing. She gave him a push before giving him a hard punch on the top of his head.

"Why did you do that?" He asked as he rubbed his head.

"Don't jump on me you idiot", she answered, still with a clenched fist.

A loud bang from inside the building interrupted them, making them quiet and alert. Then, out of the darkness walked Taileah, looking really annoyed. She sighed as she saw the new faces. When she saw Kakashi, she looked disappointed.

"I told you that I didn't want you to be branded like me", she said, walking past the young ones up to him. He didn't answer but only looked at her with warmth in his eyes.

She sighed again, walked past him and straight into one of the houses on the farthest end. Without any words, Kakashi followed. The youngsters stayed behind as they figured the old friends needed to talk.

* * *

 _She knew she was followed, and she knew by whom. She figured He had sent a hawk to Konoha, telling them of her escape and sent them to catch her. She would not go down without a fight._

" _Wait! Taileah!" Minato called for her. She did not respond. He didn't want to, but he had to. He threw his special kunai close to her and called for his Flying Thunder God technique, making him teleport to her in an instant._

 _She stopped when he suddenly appeared in front of her, but quickly took out several shurikens. Just before she could sweep them over her fingers to mark them with her blood, Minato quickly grabbed her hands. She would not go without a fight. They had betrayed her._

 _She screamed and tried to free herself from him. She hated being touched. She hated being betrayed. She hated them._

" _Calm down. I just want to talk to you!" He still tried soothing her. He noticed she was no longer listening. He also noticed the scars on her face and hands. She had been free for a day, but had not been able to fully heal due to lack of food. He became more furious. How could they do this to a child?_

 _Without thinking, he gave her a warm, comforting hug. "I'm so sorry!" He cried as he hugged her. He kept apologizing. He should have known._

 _Taileah was taken by surprise. She didn't care about the fact that he hugged her. But why was he crying and apologizing?_

 _Behind her stopped Kakashi, Obito and Rin. Rin noticed the scars on her face. She gasped as she put a hand to her mouth._

" _Why would they do this?!" She called out. Rin could not believe her eyes. This was too much. "What kind of monsters would torture a child?!"_

 _Kakashi noticed the fallen scroll and picked it up. He saw the seal, opened it to reveal the horrible truth. Konoha had send her there for a three day experiment session, to try to get the answers they wanted._

" _Did you know about this?" Kakashi growled at his teacher. Minato looked sad at his pupils, still holding Taileah firm in a hug. This had all happened too fast for her, so she had zoned out._

" _No. I found out by accident. Apparently the council had gone behind the Hokage's back to do this. The Third is currently investigating on his end", Minato explained as he wiped tears from his face. He looked at Taileah, trying to see how she would react. She was in shock._

 _Then, out of nowhere she began screaming and crying. Not in anger, but in despair. She didn't know what to do, what to say or what to think. She collapsed, grabbing her head. She was confused. She hated them, but why did she feel relieved? Then had tricked her. They had sent her to be tortured. They were only playing a game with her. Why was she happy that he had said sorry?_

" _Hey! Look at me! I'm here. You are here. No one wants to hurt you", Minato tried talking to her while he rubbed circles on her back._

 _As time went by, she slowly started to calm down. Once her screaming became soft sobbing she finally spoke._

" _I hate you!"_

* * *

At the foot of the mountain stood the newly gathered bounty hunters. This time there were several long distance ninjas, a few detectors, several healers and a few tankers. There were particularly one of the tankers who appeared different from the others. He was a rogue ninja from the Land of Earth. There were a price on his head, but for this mission they would overlook it.

The man was tall, taller than most. His arms were strong, able to lift heavy rocks and boulders. He had no affinity to any Chakra, but he had compensated for it by working out. He had killed several ninjas from all over the world.

"It should be here somewhere", one of the detectors said as he dragged his hands along the wall. He could feel several entities with chakra inside the mountain.

"They must be at the 'Cursed Place'", the giant man said. "It is somewhere inside this mountain. There is no way to get there though."

"Then we will just need to find a way in!" the man who considered himself being the leader said. He wanted revenge.

"Or we could just wait them out. They would need to get out of there to get food, so why not stay here and wait", the giant said as he sat himself down against the mountain.

The others followed his lead on this. They all knew, that he had the most knowledge of their prey out of all of them. He grew up in Iwa, and he had learned a great deal about the Shima's.

* * *

"Why did you come here?" Taileah asked as she turned to look at him. He had followed her all the way to the bedroom she currently occupied. God, she had missed him!

"I couldn't let you go alone this time. I made a promise to protect you", he said as he closed the distance of the two. God, he had missed her!

"I don't want you to have to live like me. Exiled, constantly hunted, afraid to die because of all those people. You are respected in Konoha, they are considering you to be the next Hokage. If you do this…"

He silenced her with a finger over her mouth. "I chose this. I don't care about them. And I know that our sensei would do the same."

Taileah lowered her eyes to look at the floor. She couldn't argue with that. Minato-sensei had almost left the Village several times because of her.

Kakashi knew what she was thinking. He raised her chin with his fingers, making her look at him as he removed his facial mask to kiss her. She did not push him away. Instead she answered. They had really missed each other since they parted with that kiss 16 years ago.

* * *

Shikamaru leaned against the wall of the temple looking at a folder. Taileah's name were written on it, and a big stamp with 'classified' was marked across it. He had broken a law and went into the archives to find it after he listened to Kakashi's story. But he had to. These secrets and untrue facts needed to be made public. Also, she was entitled to her belongings. He had not read it though. This was her business, not something he should pry into. But he could not deny being curious about it's content. And what had the Forth written in the letter?

* * *

 _Minato had to carry a shocked and broken Taileah to the Hokage's office. He hoped that the Elders were there to witness this, but he knew they wouldn't be. As they were about to enter the office they were stopped by an ANBU. Minato flinched and put on a defence._

" _The Hokage wants to meet you in the conference room" the ANBU simply said and turned around to lead the way. Minato followed with quite some distance. If they would try anything, he would take her and Kushina and leave Konoha._

 _When they entered the conference room he noticed the Elders. Deep inside he felt satisfaction that they could see what they had done to a already traumatized child. But at the same time he felt hate. Hate that they had done this to her. He noticed their eyes on him as he still carried Taileah. He continued to do so until he placed her on a chair, but didn't let go of her. He kept his hands on her shoulders._

" _Well, I guess that would be all. We need the report so you can leave now", one of the Elder male said to Minato with annoyance in his voice. But Minato didn't move._

" _No. I'm staying. I am here to make sure she is alright since she is my responsibility", he simply answered. This annoyed the council even more, but they couldn't argue with that as it had been an order from the Hokage. And the Hokage was present._

 _The Third only smiled at Minato's response. He turned to look at the councillors; one elder female and two older male. They looked like they didn't care at his gaze, but one of the elder male started sweating. This didn't go unnoticed from the Third or Minato._

" _Please, my child. Could you give us your report?" the Hokage said without moving his eyes from the councillors._

 _Taileah snapped out of her shock. She became furious. She slammed her hands on the table and stood up. She looked at all of them with hatred, and had it not been for Minato's grip on her shoulders she would have jumped on them and killed them. "You want a report? I'll tell you a report! I was chained to a bed! That Monster had slaves to torture me! They starved me, stabbed me, wounded me! He even wanted to cut my ears of but killed all slaves that didn't want to do it! He had slaves, people He had kidnapped for His own pleasure to do His bidding because He didn't dare touch me himself! And you want to sit here like you didn't know about it?!" She screamed. "You sent me there believing I would do a good thing! But you had given Him notice of my arrival! You had given Him permission to torture me! And then you would have my memories erased!"_

 _Minato struggled to keep her at bay as she struggled back to get to them. They could all felt her murderous intent._

" _What if I died during His experiments? Would you want all those people to die because of your ignorance and stupidity? Then it won't be my fault! I have done nothing but to try to survive for their sakes, but people like you make it really difficult!"  
_

" _Taileah, please. Calm down. No one can hurt you as long as I'm here", a soothing voice whispered in her ear. She really hated that he held her down. She screamed and cried. She wanted to be free. She hated them and wanted revenge._

" _Please, what nonsense are you telling? Why would we send you to be tortured?" the older female said with arrogance._

 _This only added fuel to the fire. Minato had to grab her and hold her as she kicked the chairs, making them fly across the room. It also lit a fuse inside of the Third. He stood up and walked to the door. He gave the door a knock, and the door opened. In walked Kakashi with the scroll with Orochimaru's orders. The Elders still tried to play ignorant._

 _The Third took the scroll and rolled it out across the table. The handwriting was not his, and they all knew that. The orders that had been written down was exactly the same as Taileah had screamed out had happened. The signature was that of Konoha's and the Hokage's. But he had no knowledge of it, and they knew that as well. "Then explain what and from whom this is."_

" _We only did it for the Village!" Suddenly an Elder male said. "Since you all tried to play guardians, we had to do something to protect our Village."_

" _That's right!" The female said. "We needed to get answers, and this was the only way. We know it was not ethical, but we had to."_

 _" _You went behind my back! You falsified information to me, to her and everyone else. You put her and thousands of lives in danger. You are despicable. I should send you far away from here!" The Third said with a firm voice. He knew though that he could not do that. If he did, the Village would side with them and start a riot. Instead he had another idea.__

 _" _But, I will not. Instead I want you to talk to her. Get your answers from asking her. I believe she will provide them if asked nicely", he turned to look at a confused girl.__

 _Minato had managed to calm Taileah down a little, enough for her to hear the conversation that was currently going on. She was still angry and full of hate, but she had heard loud and clear. It was them. They in the council who had done this. Not the Third or anyone else._

 _She had lost it. She gave up. What the hell was going on?_

* * *

 **End of chapter 12. What does it mean if she would die, thousands of people would die with her? Shikamaru has her file. Naruto have finally a chance to talk to her. Kakashi and Taileah kissing?**


	13. I'm home

"You can't be serious?" The elderly woman screamed. "There is no way I will go anywhere close to that… Brat! What if she kills me?"

" _No, she won't", Minato said, still holding her in a firm grip. Before he was absolutely sure she had calmed down from her frenzy, he did not dare to let loose on the grip._

" _How do you know? I'm not trusting her!" one of the older men sided with his colleague._

" _But I do", the Third and Minato said in a choir. It made them look at each other and chuckle._

" _What do you think, sweetie?" Minato said to Taileah, trying to get a reaction from her. He saw her staring in disbelief and confusion. She had thought that the whole Village had conspired against her. Now she found out it were only the Elders, and that the leader and his successor were all protecting her. Of course she would be confused!_

 _They got no answer from her, so the Third turned his head back to the councilors. "I'll give you three days to decide. If you haven't I'll have you getting the same treatment you gave her."_

 _Minato carried Taileah out, while the Third made his orders clear. He left right after them, leaving three elderly people scared._

* * *

Taileah laid awake. It were in the middle of the night and she still couldn't sleep. Too much had happened in the last few days.

Movements behind her and an arm landing around her, holding her proved her companion was awake as well.

"Still having trouble sleeping?" He asked with a hoarse voice, evident of his sleepiness. His naked chest against her bare back giving comfort and warmth.

"Yep", she sighed.

Kakashi lifted himself up to look at her face. She was gorgeous, he thought to himself as he leaned down to kiss her in her cheek. He noticed her smile at this.

"Maybe a walk in fresh air could help", he suggested, still holding her in a firm grip as he didn't want her to leave. She was finally in his arms.

Taileah turned to look at him. His bare face, his sleepy eyes. She raised her hand and cupped his cheek, giving him an insuring smile. Without waiting for an answer, he leaned down and kissed her lips. She put her arms around his neck as he slowly put himself on top of her.

"The walk can wait", she said when they broke apart for air, inviting him for more.

"You should stop seducing me", he whispered against her lips.

"Why? Don't you like it?" She whispered back.

"I do", he kissed her. "But I won't be able to control myself if you do."

She pulled him down for another kiss. "Then don't."

She never made that walk that night.

* * *

Sakura was the first to wake up in the morning. She couldn't believe how comfortable that hard looking bed actually were. She stretched as she walked out into the morning sun. She realized she hadn't explored the temple yet, so she decided to take a quick look while the others were still asleep.

Once inside though, she noticed Taileah sitting by what appeared to be the altar. She looked like she was praying and didn't want to be disturbed. Sakura silently backed away.

"It's okay. You can come in."

Sakura was shocked, but went inside. She placed herself close, but still with a distance.

"I never thanked you for fixing my arm and splinting my leg", Taileah said looking at the young woman beside her. She could feel the potential in this girl.

"Y-y-you're welcome", Sakura stuttered. She didn't know if she was nervous or afraid.

"No, really. Thank you. Because of it I healed up a lot faster. If it had not been done, I would have been in a coma for a week."

"Well… I had to do something. And Kakashi-sensei warned me about… Well, that you can't be healed by others. So… That was the only thing I could think of."

Taileah gave the girl a reassuring smile. She did not like the fact that another one had to be added to her list of people to keep alive, but she could not help but to feel thankful that someone would touch her out of their own free will despite the warnings.

Sakura looked around nervously, trying to find somewhere to focus her eyes on. Her cheeks flushed pink and felt warm. Was this really the same person they had been warned about?

Taileah noticed her eyes frantically looking around. "This is a temple I made."

Sakura's eyes landed on the woman, who looked at a small hole in the ceiling, just above them to let the sun in.

"I made it to honor my clan. It was the least I could do."

They were interrupted by a cough from Shikamaru. He didn't want to disturb, but a hungry and nagging Naruto were too much for him. He explained the situation, making Taileah chuckle. She walked past them, still making sure to keep her distance, and disappeared into her house.

A short while later, Kakashi walked out of the same house. The young ones looked surprised, though they quickly caught on. Except for Naruto. He pointed at him and looked furious.

"You! You ate without us! If you have eaten all the food I swear…"

Shikamaru interrupted him, whispering into his ear that he had spent the night. Naruto's face blushed, but quickly turned mischievous. He gave Kakashi a teasing look, to which Kakashi responded with a sigh.

It didn't take long for Taileah to bring them food. Once she had found her way around in the Valley she had made several trips to nearby water streams to collect fresh water. She had also disguised herself and walked down to the nearby farms, asking for produce. She would pay and pick them herself, and they had agreed. Getting paid for produce and not having to pick it? Of course they wanted the deal they had said.

Taileah brought the food to the guests, but went back to the house. She couldn't eat this early in the morning. Instead, once she were inside the house she ran to the bathroom to throw up. Food had always been a trigger when she had been deprived of it for long periods of time. She had warned Kakashi about it as he had walked up to her to kiss her good morning while she plated bread and fruits, noticing her uncomfortable face. She could relax as they would not follow her.

* * *

From Konoha, several teams of four, consisting of only ANBU, had been dispatched to search. One team for each country had been sent, as they had no idea where she had gone.

Tsunade had to do it, as an order from the Elders. She silently hoped though that they wouldn't find them, that Shikamaru and Kakashi had gotten to her first.

* * *

" _We're home!" Minato called as he, Taileah and Kakashi walked inside. He still held her in a firm grip around her shoulders, as to make sure she didn't run away. He had to make her listen. He would not let her go anywhere alone again._

 _Kushina ran down the stairs and dived on Taileah, giving her a crushingly hard hug. "I was so worried! When Minato told me about all this, I wanted to punch their faces." She clenched her fist, giving off a terrifying look of anger. Taileah had never seen this side of Kushina before. Of course she had seen her angry at small things, but this was something entirely different._

" _Are you okay, now?" Kushina then quickly snapped out of it to focus back on the broken girl. She cupped the girls face, giving her a motherly look. There were something comforting about it. It was warm and sincere._

" _If I had known about it I would have followed", Kakashi growled. He wanted to protect her. He had insisted, but Minato-sensei had stopped him._

" _If I had known I had never let her out of the house", Kushina's terrifying face appeared once again. "If I see the old geezers out there I will punch their noses out of their back head!"_

" _Woah there Red Hot-Blooded Habanero!" Minato tried to calm his fiancée. This made her turn her anger towards him instead. She did not like being called that as it reminded her of the days in the Academy, and he knew that._

 _While the scene unfolded before their eyes, Kakashi glanced over a Taileah, only to catch her looking at them in disbelief. He saw her shift her eyes between the two. The inner conflict she had was obvious, so he slowly put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her._

 _She shook out of her thoughts as he put his hand on her, pulling her back to reality. What was she supposed to make out of all this? Could she believe they had nothing to do with anything? The sincerity in Kushina really confused her. She had decided to hate them. She had decided they could not be trusted. Yet, they acted still the same as before she left. They still were protective of her. They argued like before, making jokes as they always had._

 _The room suddenly became quite. All eyes landed on a confused Taileah as tears began falling from her eyes. She quickly hid her face in embarrassment and shame. How did she become so weak?_

 _She felt how Kushina sat down on her knees as she pulled Taileah's hands from her face. She was again greeted with a warm and comforting smile._

" _Don't hide your pretty face. You don't have to feel ashamed for crying. I would too if I had gone through the same as you. So cry all you want", she pulled the broken girl in for a soft hug. She felt how small arms grabbed her back, holding on for dear life not wanting to let go._

" _I'm home."_

* * *

As the sun began setting the darkness swallowed the Valley, Naruto found Taileah sitting on the roof of the temple. He had tried to find time to talk to her all day, but she had been busy with… Whatever it was she was doing. She had gone in and out of various houses, coming out with stone boxes of various sizes and quantities.

Now it appeared she was done and there finally were time for him to ask what was on his mind.

He jumped to the roof and approached her carefully, not wanting to scare her.

"I wondered when you would show up. You've looked like you really want to talk to me", she said still looking at the darkening sky.

He sat down beside her. It became quiet as he had no idea what to say or where to begin.

"I'm not as dangerous as the rumors will have me to be you know."

He jumped at her sudden statement. "No! It's not that. It's just that… There's a lot in my head."

"Like what?"

It became silent again. He didn't know where to begin. What if his parents were nothing as he had heard or imagined?

"Did you… Did you really spend the night with Kakashi-sensei?" He blurted out not really thinking. He slammed his palm against his face. That was not what he wanted to ask!

She did no big deal out of it. She just chuckled a little and gave a small shrug with a smile. Faint stars started to appear.

"Sorry."

"No, it's okay. Sometimes we say things we don't want to say instead of the things we want to say."

"I can't believe you would do the things that they say", he said with sincerity as he looked at her. He noticed her face changed to a sad one.

This sparked a long conversation, going from how she committed her sin to how she was raised by Orochimaru. How she stumbled into this place to learn about herself and her legacy and how she learned about her curse. She went on about how she ended up in Konoha.

"You really met my fa… the Forth!" He didn't want to reveal himself yet.

Taileah looked at him and smiled. "Of course I met him. He saved me."

* * *

 **End of chapter 13. Naruto finally got his chance to ask about his parents. How will he react? Will the ANBU or the bounty hunters get to her first?**


	14. You can't be serious?

"He saved you? How?" Naruto asked curious. They had finally come to the part he wanted to know more about.

"He helped me to trust people again, to see that not everyone is bad and wants to hurt me or lock me up. He protected me when no one else did and risked his reputation to do it." As she spoke about his father he became more excited. He listened eagerly.

"Then…", she closed her eyes as she uttered her favorite words. "He gave me a home. He gave me a family. You're father was really an amazing man." She looked at him, noticing his surprise at her last words. "Yes, I know you are their son. The resemblance is stunning. I knew the minute I saw you."

He didn't know what to answer. She had known all along, but instead of telling him she had acted like nothing. This made him feel a little sad and angry. If she knew, why hadn't she told him?

"Then… If you knew…"

"I don't know. I guess I felt guilty. I couldn't save them, I didn't know you had survived. I just… Feel ashamed I guess."

The silence came back. They both looked up at the sky to watch the many stars twinkling above.

* * *

 _Some time went by and Minato and Kushina had gotten married. Taileah had been part of the bridal party, which had come as a huge surprise to her. The wedding was not too grand, but many people had been present. They had given her sceptical eyes as to why she was there, but didn't say anything. When the day had passed she still were proud that she was honored to attend this kind of celebration._

 _Moreover, she had never celebrated a birthday, particularly her own. She didn't even know when she was born. She had only known by His word that she was five years old when she committed her sin. Therefore, she had a hunch that she would be fourteen by this year. If only she knew what day it was._

 _Minato and Kushina had decided that they would count from the day she moved in to them. They had made a anniversary celebration last year. This year they wanted to do something else for her._

 _Taileah was just about to arrive back from another mission. She hadn't really gotten used to calling 'I'm home' when she got back. Yet she was always eager to do so._

 _There were something different this time. When she got to the entrance of the house it was in total darkness. No one was home which was strange. Even if Kushina left for shopping, she would always leave a light on to let Taileah know that she was welcomed home. Now it was completely dark._

 _Taileah got worried. Had they decided she wasn't welcome anymore? Would the door be locked? She went up to the door, hesitating before she put her hand on the handle._

 _The door was open. She entered the house, greeted with total darkness. Panic starting to swell up as she went inside. She could not feel any presence from inside._

 _Her panic turned to sheer surprise when she flicked the light on, revealing all the people screaming 'surprise' as they cheered for her._

" _Sorry to scare you", Kushina said. "But we wanted to do something special for your anniversary."_

" _My anniversary?"_

" _Yes. Today is the anniversary of the day when you moved in with us. But it is also the day we celebrate you becoming one year older. So happy anniversary", Minato explained giving her a hug._

 _Taileah looked around the room. There were actually more people present than she had ever believed would be here. At the front stood Kakashi, giving her his famous lovingly warm smile he only gave her. He walked up to her, gave her a hug and whispered in her ear. Taileah blushed. Really?_

" _Why?"_

" _Because we all cherish you, and we want to show you how much you mean to us", he stated._

 _Rin ran up to her and gave a big hug. Obito walked up and looked at her seriously before reaching out a hand to shake. Taileah looked in surprise. He had never made an attempt to touch her before and had made it clear he disliked her. Yet, here he was giving her a smile and a hand to shake._

" _Happy anniversary", he said. Instead of waiting for her to grab hold of his hand, he reached out to take it. He held it in his hand and put his other on top. He had acknowledged her._

 _And so had many more._

* * *

What the group in the Valley didn't know was that there were two kinds of squads after them. The bounty hunters were still laying in wait for them, but now there were also several groups of ANBU. The later group had noticed the hunters, but had not intercepted. The former had no idea that they were being watched.

ANBU had sent messages back to the Village, informing of the current situation. The orders they got back was to stay put. They had to wait for further instructions for now.

* * *

"Why did you put them on 'stand by'?" The Elderly man asked. "They should just go in and apprehend her."

"First of all, there is no way to get to them unless you know the exact way in", Tsunade sighed at her desk. She had enough with the interrogation from the councilors. "Second, there are a team of probably bounty hunters laying in wait for them as well. If we send our agents in they will cause a commotion, and that will alert them."

"So we are just going to do nothing? What if the bounty hunters get to her first? We need her!"

"For what, exactly? You haven't told me what the purpose of holding her caged, forcing her to be experimented on really is. Don't you have enough information with the old files from Orochimaru when he did his research?" Tsunade gave them both a stern look, making them realize she knew more than enough. They could not withhold the truth anymore.

The old woman sighed. "We need to extract blood from her so we can make antidotes. If we can understand what makes her blood so powerful then maybe we can make very effective medicine."

"And we need to keep her from the public so she won't contaminate more people", the old man cut in.

Tsunade could kind of understand the old womans reasoning, but it was still unethical. She was all for research to help people stay healthy and help the sick. There were just the fact that they tortured someone who could help them instead. She did not know what to do in this situation.

"Have you tried asking her to help us? Maybe she could help with your research, and we could keep her away from the public by putting her lab outside the Village. The researchers you have know barely want to even touch the vials her blood is in."

"Are you out of your mind? How could we ask a criminal to help us with that!? Why do you think she would help anyone but herself?" The old woman clutched at her chest, speaking as I she had been offended.

"The previous council seemed to have no problem in asking a criminal for help", it was classified information, but since Tsunade were the Hokage there was no such thing as classified with her. She had read the reports, she had read the request to Orochimaru. Apparently they were comfortable with asking him for help but not her. The one who would gladly help.

"That was a entirely different thing."

"How?"

The elders could not answer. Their predecessors had in fact asked that man to torture her to better understand her abilities. It was only too bad that he had not gotten everything they needed, before she successfully escaped. And then the Forth had to step in and hindre further research.

Tsunade noticed their silence, taking it as a sign of their retreat. "Your silence is evident of your stubbornness. I'm giving out new orders. They are to safely escorts the Shima-girl here. Then we are to give her an opportunity to help us."

"You can't be serious?"

"Oh I'm very serious. This is my orders as the Hokage. Do you have any problems with that?"

* * *

 _Citizens of Konoha had started to accept that Taileah were in the Village, but they still didn't like it. Whenever she walked alone the children threw rocks at her. She dodged when she could, but never threw or did anything back. She would only turn to look at the perpetrators who ran away as soon as she saw them. They wanted her to see them._

 _When they ran they would always scream as if she were attacking them, and the children would blame her for their 'self defense' they called it._

 _Taileah knew there were nothing she could do about it. If she retaliated, she would be blamed and Kushina and Minato would get punished. So she never made a big deal out of it. She also made sure to heal any visible wounds before heading to their house, so as to avoid any questions about where they came from._

 _This day were no different. She was taking a walk by the outer wall, just to keep her distance from the town and the citizens. This was a gray day, as heavy rain poured down. It didn't stop her though. She wanted fresh air. She couldn't stand being stuck inside for too long._

 _Behind came young children with their elder brothers and sisters in their teens. They had bags and wheelbarrows full of rocks. They would not stop until every rock had hit her, and they knew that passersby would just keep walking._

 _The first rock were thrown by one of the elder teens. Taileah dodged it as it flew right past her head on the right side. She turned to look at the gang of kids. They had hatred in their eyes._

" _How many times do we have to do this until you get it?" the teens said as he threw a rock at her again. She dodged again._

" _Everyone in this Village hate you! You should just die!" Another rock thrown and dodged._

" _You have contaminated the next Hokage. Whatever spell you have but on them you should stop. Or we will stop you!" More rocks came flying at her. She dodged them all with little to no effort._

" _Ugh! Stay still!" One of the younger ones yelled._

 _Taileah sighed at the gang of children. She turned to continue her walk but found herself surrounded. Again. From this point on she would not be able to defend herself. They could get hurt._

 _The torture lasted almost half an hour. She had been hit several times on her head, some kids were even brave enough to get closer to hit her with long sticks. She had cuts all over, from head to toe. A simple healing session would not suffice this time._

 _The ground were colored red by the blood as the rain washed it off of her. She stayed crouched by the wall for quite some time. She did not know for how long. She sat there, staring out into nothing with blank eyes._

 _She didn't notice a friend walking up to her, gasping as she saw her. Rin ran up to her, dropping her umbrella as she ran. Rin was crying. She tried to spoke to the broken girl but got no answers. She didn't even react when Rin touched her, shaking her or anything else to make contact with her._

 _Rin was desperate and had no choice but to get help. She wasn't strong enough to carry her by herself._

 _Rin went to pick up the umbrella, put it by Taileah's side to shelter her from further rain. She told her she would be right back before she ran to bring help. She was crying the whole time. She had seen the results of other incidents, but never to this degree. This time they had gone too far. If they had hit her just a few inches closer to her eye, she would have been killed._

 _She banged on the door to the Namikaze household. She called for her sensei, yelling of an emergency. The door opened and Rin quickly told them what had happened. Both Kushina and Minato became furious. Kushina set out to bring the girl home. Minato ran out to put an end to it all._

* * *

 **End of chapter 14. Tsunade finally stands up to what she believes in. Naruto and Taileah had a chance to talk, but are there more that need to be said? How would Minato stop it all?**

 **Notice: Next chapter will be only backstory as we're getting closer to a conclusion.**


	15. It's not your fault

_Taileah laid in bed with a high fever. She had been out in the rain for too long and the cold rain had started to give an effect. Kushina did not leave her side as she kept swapping the cold pads on her forehead to help keep the temperature down. She was furious when she found her, but it soon became a strong sense of worry. She was only a child and people could be this cruel._

 _Minato had gone to the Hokage's office yelling at them. If nothing were to be done he would leave. He would not accept any more incidents like this. They had noticed her change of mood or how she seemed to flinch in pain when they hugged her. Something had happened that she would not speak of. Now they knew what, and it infuriated them._

 _The Third had no knowledge of the attacks on her, but became equally angry and disappointed at the citizens of the Village. He promised to take care of it as soon as possible. Problem was though, he had no idea how. If he made a rash decision it could only make it worse. Neither of them wanted that._

* * *

 _One week later Taileah was still in bed with a fever. This had never happened before and it worried Minato and Kushina. There was nothing they could do to help her get better other than try to feed her, make her drink and give her some medication. Though they were starting to think that maybe the medication made no difference at all, or even made it worse._

 _It was at this time Kakashi was promoted to Jounin rank. He only wished Taileah were awake so he could celebrate with her. The date he had promised her at her anniversary party had still yet to happen. But with her current state it would have to wait, for who knows how long. Even Rin and Obito felt sad at her state. They visited everyday, bringing sweets they knew she liked and flowers in hope that the scent would help her calm down. The flowers where Rin's idea, the sweets were Obito's. He had started to take a liking to her. But still Rin was the only girl in his heart._

* * *

 _Taileah still hadn't woken up from her fever, and Minato got his orders for another mission. This time it sent them into the heart of the war. He was reluctant to leave, but he had no choice. He said his goodbyes to Kushina and Taileah, wishing for her to be awake when they got back. He then left with his three man team. This mission would forever change their lives._

 _As team Minato had left, Kushina had decided to do everything she could to help Taileah overcome whatever it was she was battling. She stopped giving her medicine and instead only gave food and water. She made sure the girl was kept clean and cooled down. Anything to make her comfortable. She sat by her side day and night, talking to the girl about everything and nothing. She hoped that at least something would reach her and encourage her to come back to them._

* * *

 _Taileah had several dreams and nightmares intertwining in each other. It was like she was stuck in an infinite loop of some sort, where everything was torture and no one cared for her. It was like the time before she came to Konoha, but worse._

 _In one dream, the tamest of them all, everywhere she went she was spat on, screamed at or beaten. Everyone showed their contempt at her by their actions._

 _In another she was back at His place, feeling the torture all over again._

 _The worst of them all, was the dream where her friends died and there was nothing she could do about it. It was like she was stuck frozen and had to watch them die over and over again. She cried as Obito was crushed, not able to help him. She screamed as Rin was impaled right through her heart, not being able to stop it. She broke when Kakashi got stabbed through his eye, not being able to prevent it. She collapsed as she saw Kushina and Minato get impaled, giving up on life all together. Whenever one death occurred, another torturous dream took place._

 _She had lost count of how many times she had watched them die, always the same way. She had felt the same helplessness every time. There was nothing she could do and she hated herself for it. She wished for herself to die instead. She had little to nothing to live for, but the people she had started to care about had their whole lives._

* * *

 _Kushina noticed the pain in Taileah's face. She figured she had to have some terrible dreams. She tried to sooth her with a calm voice and gentle strokes against her cheeks. Sometimes she would give a firm but gentle squeeze of the girls hand._

 _She only left the girls side when she needed to get something from the kitchen or when she needed to use the bathroom. She had her best friend Uchiha Mikoto to run her errands for her. Everyday she would come with groceries or something that could be of help. Kushina had a lot to thank her friend for._

 _She hoped that Minato would be home soon. She didn't know how much longer Taileah could fight, and it felt like she gave up more and more as time went by._

" _Please, come back to us!" Kushina said, letting tears fall from her eyes._

 _This was when she noticed the tears falling from Taileah's eyes. Kushina got a bad feeling from this._

* * *

 _Minato came home with a heavy heart and two broken children. He had gotten word that he was needed elsewhere on the battlefield so he had left Kakashi in charge of the mission and left. When he regrouped with them, they told him what had happened. Rin had been kidnapped, Kakashi had lost an eye, but Obito awoke his Sharingan. When he and Obito found and rescued Rin, a cave in happened. Obito had protected Kakashi but ended up crushed by a huge boulder. He gave his Sharingan to Kakashi._

 _The Village mourned him. He was a hero for saving two of his teammates, and he was honored that he had put saving Rin first before the mission. It was after this incident that Kakashi truly understood his father's actions._

 _Rumors started though that Obito died in result of the cursed girls illness. She was still sick in bed, and Obito was now dead. Could the girl affect people not only by death but by illness also? They whispered theories about how she could project her own illness at those she had touched, making them weaker. These rumors made their hate for her grow even bigger._

* * *

 _The nightmares of Obito's death stopped shortly after his passing. That hurt more as Taileah grew anxious about it. Her nightmares on the other's deaths continued, but she had not seen him be crushed for some time. This made her worried, could something have happened? She had to know!_

* * *

 _Finally, she opened her eyes to see a sleeping Kushina beside her bed. It was dark outside. She didn't want to wake Kushina up, but she had to know if Obito was alright. She managed to climb out of bed not disturbing the sleeping woman._

 _Taileah felt weak. She had been out for… How long? She didn't know, but for now she had other things on her mind. She trembled as she walked, trying really hard not to fall from her weakened legs._

 _It took a while, but finally she got down to the last steps of the stairs. She heard somebody crying in the kitchen. Something really did happen, and she felt her muscles tense up as a cold shiver ran down her spine. She stumbled down the last steps and fell as her legs gave in. Her body didn't react the way she wanted, so she prepared herself for impact._

 _Suddenly Taileah felt someone catch her. She looked up to see Minato with a sad smile on his face._

" _Welcome back", he said as he helped her to stand on her wobbly legs. He held her arm as he helped her to sit down by the table. Once he knew she was sitting safely he went to grab something to drink for the two of them. He needed to tell her, but didn't know how. She beat him to it._

" _What happened to Obito?" She flat out asked. She knew the minute she saw Minato's face, but needed to hear it from him._

 _Minato turned to look at her. He sighed as he moved to the table, put the drinks down and sat down facing the girl. She had a determined expression on her face and he figured she already knew. There were no point in sugarcoating it._

" _He was killed. We were out on a mission. I had to leave. When I found them, Rin and Kakashi, they told me how Obito saved both of them. Rin had been kidnapped and when they rescued her, a cave in happened and Obito rushed to save Kakashi. He was crushed by a huge boulder."_

 _Taileah looked at him in shock. He had been crushed under a boulder? Just like in her dream._

 _Minato reached for her hand but she just pulled it away. It terrified her that not only had Obito died, but he had died exactly the same as in her nightmares._

 _Taileah stood up. She had to leave. No way she would stay if they all would die. She ran for the door, Minato running right after. He knew she was trying to leave. He could not allow that. Not after what had happened last time they let her out of the house alone, and not until there had been a serious solution to the problem._

* * *

 _Kushina woke beside the empty bed to the horrified screams of a young girl. She knew immediately what was going on and rushed downstairs where she saw Minato struggling with a hysterical Taileah. She screamed to let her leave, to save themselves, that she was cursed and that they would all die if she stayed._

 _Kushina gave a soft smile before she walked up and gave the girl a gentle hug. She cupped her face and placed their foreheads against each other._

" _It's not your fault", she whispered, looking straight into the frightened girl. "It's not your fault."_

 _Taileah broke down and hugged Kushina, hiding her face on her shoulder as she cried her heart out. She was still terrified, but she didn't want to leave. Her friend had died, and she had not been there to stop it. Minato gave both a loving look as Kushina held the girl, rocking her back and forth as she hummed._

* * *

 _Kakashi and Rin visited the next day. They didn't know about the events that night, so they still believed she was unconscious. They didn't know how to look at her, how to tell her that their friend had passed away._

 _They got really surprised to see Taileah open the door. She was up and walking, no signs of illness on her. Yet she had a exhausted expression on her face. She knew. She was equally surprised to see Kakashi with an injured eye. When he told what had happened, she had started to hyperventilate. It had almost happen twice._

* * *

 _Time passed. Minato and Taileah both were out on separate orders when the next tragedy struck. Rin was kidnapped and Kakashi was sent to rescue her. At first he had succeeded, but tragedy struck and they were surrounded. Rin also refused to go back to the Village. She wanted Kakashi to kill her. He refused, but the closing threat and Rins determination made the decision for them. She ran into his attack, killing herself._

 _Kakashi was furious at himself when he woke up in the Konoha hospital. First he couldn't save his friend Obito. Now he had broken his promise to him to protect Rin. He hated himself, but made damn sure that he would kill himself if he could not protect Taileah._

* * *

 _Minato arrived in the Village. He was devastated by the news, but he was more worried about Kakashi and Taileah. They both would blame themselves, even though it wasn't their fault. He went straight to the hospital to talk to Kakashi._

 _Taileah arrived the next day, hateful eyes shooting at her. Could Rin's death be her doing as well? Whispers and rumours started to spread again._

 _It wasn't until she reached the Namikaze household she got news of Rin's death. She had been impaled through her heart. Taileah collapsed. Another of her nightmares had become reality. How much longer was this going to continue? She couldn't take it anymore._

* * *

 _Not long after the war ended. The Third decided to step down from his position, and Minato was chosen as the Fourth. Kushina became pregnant and Kakashi was promoted to ANBU and ordered to guard Kushina. Taileah was now a Jounin, after her efforts in the war. She couldn't care less though._

 _At the day of the inauguration Kushina and Minato wanted her with them. Not only did they consider her family, but they would feel safer with her close by._

 _Once Minato was sworn in, Taileah could finally relax. She had feared that this was just a dream and it would soon end, considering that Orochimaru were the other choice. After what He had done to her, she would rather die than see him take charge._

 _Problem was though, she was not allowed to die. If she did, everyone who had made physical contact of any kind with her would die as well. That was the extent of the curse, a punishment for killing one of their own. The Curse of Death._

* * *

 **End of chapter 15. Obito is dead. Rin is dead. The war is over and Minato is the Forth Hokage. Kushina is pregnant. Th** **e Curse has finally been explained. There had to be a way to break the curse, but how?**


	16. Well, shall we?

Taileah and Naruto hadn't said a word in over an hour. Neither had they removed their gaze from the sky. They had just sat there in silence and watched the stars. It wasn't until a familiar cough brought Naruto to look at her again. On her other side stepped Shikamaru forward. He looked a little embarrassed and like he had something to confess.

Taileah just looked at him. She didn't say anything, but patiently waited for him to speak. Shikamaru's eyes flickered between her and Naruto. At this moment he regretted that he stepped forward. Although, he guessed, she already knew he was there.

"I um..." He rubbed his neck as he avoided eye contact with her. He then coughed again to gather himself. "I have something of yours. I believe this was what you were looking for."

He handed her a file with her name on it. Taileah looked at it, then him and back again in disbelief. He didn't know her, yet he had gotten it for her. Slowly she reached for it, almost as if she was afraid it would disappear if she touched it. Just before she reached it she stopped, looked at him again for confirmation that this was real. He smiled. She took it with shaky hands, still not believing she held the file she was told about that night when Minato and Kushina died. She still hated herself for not being there to help them, preventing their horrible fate.

Shikamaru looked at Naruto who also looked at her file in disbelief. There really were a letter from his father?

"I think we should leave you alone", Shikamaru said quite loudly to snap Naruto out of his trance.

"But I…"

"Now", Shikamaru cut him of. He knew that Naruto wanted to know what was inside too, but it was not for him. If she wanted to show him later, that would be her decision. Until then, he thought, she needed to be alone. From what he could see in her expression only from looking at the file and holding it, this was going to be hard for her.

Reluctantly Naruto stood up and followed Shikamaru, looking back at her once in a while. He wanted to know more about her relationship with his parents. He wanted to know why they had left her a letter, and why the leaders of Konoha wanted to hide it from the world.

Taileah was left alone, still staring at the file. Just as she was eager to open it and read every single word inside, she was just as terrified at what there could be written. What if it was a confession about how much they hated her?

Finally, she decided to read it. With a deep breath she opened the file and read the letter before she went through all the documents she found. How much she had hoped for this, she thought.

Never had she cried so hard before. Only this time these were tears of relief and joy. She looked up at the stars, tears running down her cheeks and whispered. "Thank you. I would be honoured!"

* * *

 _It was supposed to be a day of joy, but both Taileah and Kakashi decided to visit their friends graves on the day of their date. They didn't call it a date though, since it wasn't really a happy occasion. They were simply visiting their friends and talking to them about what was going on right now. Kakashi apologized everytime they went to the graveyard for not being able to protect Rin. Taileah never said a word. It wasn't because she didn't want to, but because she didn't know what to say. She hadn't lost someone so close to her. She didn't count her clan, as she never knew them. When she met them, it was her first meeting and she had no idea she was even related to them. Then she proceeded to carry out Orochimaru's orders, to kill every last one of them._

" _Maybe we should go somewhere else?" Kakashi asked after he saw her depressed look. He felt the same, but needed to stay strong. Not only because of Kushina, but also for Taileah. If he lost her as well, he wouldn't be able to live with himself._

" _No, it's fine", Taileah said and shrugged. There were nothing she wanted to do really. What could she do? Her friends had died, and she was still alive. Life really was unfair. No one would miss her, but Obito and Rin were loved by their families, friends and respected throughout the Village. Taileah? She was hated, no one wanted her around. They were afraid of her and kept their distance from her. She had heard the hateful whispers about how terrible it was that she was standing next to Kushina as Minato were sworn in as the Fourth Hokage._

 _It had gotten worse after Minato gave his speech. He had firmly stated that if anyone were to hurt Taileah ever again, he would eo anything to find out who it was and then punish them the same way she was hurt. He spoke about how the last incident had almost killed her, how she never fought back when they attacked her and how she was part of the Konoha family. A few days after, the random thrown rocks, sticks or rotten fruits or vegetable began. The ones who did it always made sure not to be caught._

 _Suddenly Taileah was brought back to reality when she felt someone pull on her hand. She looked at it to find that Kakashi had taken it and began half walking half dragging her away from the cemetery._

" _I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat", he said without looking at her or giving any excuse why he suddenly grabbed her hand._

 _Finally, Taileah found it funny enough to smile. She covered her mouth as she giggled quietly. Kakashi still heard her though and began to smile as well. He pulled her to his side and as they began walking down the streets, they were still holding hands._

* * *

"I think we should start thinking about going back to Konoha", Sakura said the next morning. They had been gone for several days now and haven't even sent one hawk. Tsunade had not been given any updates or information from them. Besides, the search teams should have been sent by now. They could be there anytime soon.

Shikamaru agreed. "We should at least get going. There's not much to eat or drink anyway, so whatever we decide we need to get out of here to find food and water." He was also concerned about the search teams. They were close, he knew they were.

"We need to check with Taileah and Kakashi what they think. I think he will not go anywhere without her. If we want to go anywhere, we need to convince her to come with us", Sakura continued. She and Shikamaru exchanged looks before nodding in agreement.

Naruto whined as his stomach growled. He hadn't had anything to eat since the night before, and there were barely anything left of the storage Taileah had gathered before they arrived. "Where are they?" Naruto almost screamed in frustration. He could not wait until they got back to the Village to eat Ichiraku Ramen again.

Sakura looked over at the house Taileah lived in, but decided to look inside the temple instead. Her intuition said that she was there. Sakura was right. She stepped inside and placed herself right next to Taileah who was in deep meditation. Naruto looked inside, noticed the two and went in himself. He placed himself on Taileah's other side. He looked first at her, then Sakura. He was on his way to speak when he was interrupted.

"Please, this is my sacred place. I want to be able to sit here in silence and think", Taileah spoke without opening her eyes. "If you can't sit there in silence then you need to leave."

This came as a shock to Sakura. Last time she had come in here to talk to Taileah there were no coldness like this. She did as she was told, got up and left. Naruto stayed. He wanted to know what was inside the file she was given. Now they were alone. He could wait for her to finish.

…

…

…

He thought.

"I can't take it anymore! I need to know what was in that letter. What did it say? Why did he leave you a letter? Why? Tell me!" He yelled and screamed in frustration. His curiosity got the better of him. He just could not wait any longer.

Slowly Taileah opened her eyes. She looked him straight into his with a serious look, making him feel she was burrowing her gaze deep into his soul. This made Naruto jump back a little, as he became afraid she would do something to him for interrupting her. Within a minute, she changed her seriousness to a smile. She sighed and shook her head before standing up.

"You will know. When we get back to Konoha. I have some people to talk to there. Depending on how that meeting goes, this could be the last time I'll see this temple. I wanted to savour it."

He could not believe this was the same person. One minute she looked serious with intent to kill, in the next she became soft and almost cute. Just like his mother.

Naruto laughed at his own thoughts. He had just compared Taileah to his mother. Although... The more he thought about it... ' _Whatever_ ', he thought as he stood himself up to her level before they both walked out of the temple to the others.

Taileah went up to Kakashi, gave him a smile before she went inside her cave house. She needed to gather some things before they could set out she explained to the team. She was going with them, and she would not struggle or give them a hard time. She just needed to gather some things, say her goodbye and then they could be of. Kakashi offered to help and followed her. The three youngsters smiled, as they figured this could take a while.

Shikamaru figured they should also get ready, as he had found a few things he wanted to collect while he had explored. There were several great books with information about the Shima-clan. He figured he could bring them and encourage everyone to read them.

Sakura had also found some things she wanted to collect. Inside the Valley there were several herbs that were difficult to find in the world. They existed outside the Valley, but they were still rare. Here it seemed they grew in big patches, maybe had been farmed by the clan for medicine. She collected a great amount of it, leaving just enough for future growth.

All Naruto wanted to take with him were Taileah and her letter. There really was nothing else inside this Valley he figured he would have any use of. Not that he would have any use of her letter, but it would be a piece of himself in a way. It was written by his father. It contained the last words his father had written. He could not wait until he could read it himself.

* * *

"You don't have to follow me here. I am perfectly capable to pack my own stuff", Taileah said teasingly. She knew why he had followed her here.

Kakashi didn't say anything as he walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He hugged her from behind, relishing in the feeling that she would come home with him. He would never leave her side. He would stay with her, protect her until the threats on her had finally subsided. Otherwise, he would just wait until he was sworn in as Hokage, and make the same statement Minato-sensei had made. He was going to protect her with everything he got.

He trailed his nose up from her shoulders against her neck up to her ear, breathing in her scent, letting his hand explore at the same time.

"We shouldn't keep the teenagers waiting", she said tilting her head to give him more access. She enjoyed his touch and wanted to savour it as much as she could.

"Let them wait", he answered as he turned her around, cupped her face and kissed her.

* * *

"Finally!" Naruto yelled at them. "We've been waiting for half an hour."

A satisfied Kakashi came out first from the house carrying only his baggage. Right behind came Taileah with a shy grin on her face. She had only brought a small backpack which contained some scrolls, a few books and her file with the documents and the letter. Nothing much, but these were important to her.

They didn't question why it had taken so long. It could just have been the fact that this would be difficult for her, as she would leave this place in which she belonged for quite some time. This was the place she had her roots, her family, her history. Now, she had to leave it all behind. Or, it could just be that she and Kakashi took some time to be alone.

"Well, shall we?" Taileah took one last look around the Valley. She would remember the way back this time, but probably never set her foot here again. Lastly, she looked at the temple, giving one finally silent prayer to her kins before she turned and walked with the others out.

They didn't expect to meet with a horrible fate.

* * *

 **End of chapter 16. Bounty Hunters ready for attack, ANBU ready to intercept. The team have no idea what is waiting for them. What horrible fate are they facing?**

* * *

 **Authors note: This chapter took a while to write, and I'm sorry. This week has been really weird with me sick, my son sick, then my devices not working and then me being sick again. Now I'm back at writing. Next chapter is the last, and will be longer than the others. Please leave a review on this story as I'm really curious to see what others think. Also leave constructive criticism if you see fit as I want to be a better writer.**


	17. Coast is clear

Just as they started walking to one of the many exits, Taileah suddenly stopped. Something didn't feel right. It was like… they were not alone all of a sudden. Naruto was the first to notice her not taking another step. He grabbed hold of Kakashi's arm, nodding his head her way making them all stop and look at her with confusion.

"What's the matter?" Kakashi asked. Something must be wrong for her to abruptly stop like this.

Taileah didn't answer, but were lost in thought. Maybe she were just paranoid after being hunted and followed for her whole life. There probably were nothing to worry about. She looked up and saw worry, confusion and annoyance in the eyes of the youngsters. She gave a reassuring smile before shaking her head.

"It's probably nothing", she said and started walking again, but was suddenly grabbed by her arm. She turned and saw Kakashi's determined look. He knew something bothered her.

"What's wrong?" he asked again. Her intuition would mostly turn into truth, if not more than his hunches. Something was definitely wrong.

"It's nothing," she tried again. She tried to release herself from his grip, but the more she struggled the more he tightened his grip.

"Tell us", he said firmly.

Taileah sighed. She knew there were no way to get out of this now since he were persistent. "I just got this feeling that… something will happen once we get out of here."

Now it was Shikamaru's turn to sigh. "Look, if you don't want to go with us, then we can just leave you here."

"No, that's not it. It's just… having been followed for my whole life I have learned to trust my instinct about these things. If I felt something was wrong I either fled or hid. It saved my life several times." She wanted to reassure them she wasn't having second thoughts. But at the same time she just couldn't shake this feeling.

"What if I use my Sanin mode? That way I can try to feel if there is something out there," Naruto offered.

"That's not a bad idea. IF there is something out there, we will know for sure", Sakura agreed.

Reluctantly Shikamaru agreed. He wanted to get going as soon as possible. He didn't want to stay here any longer then needed. He didn't want to admit it, but the place gave him the creeps.

* * *

 _Night fell upon Konoha as the due date for the baby came. It was only days away, and Kushina was making preparations. She was determined that it would be a boy, and he would grow to be strong. She talked about how Taileah would make a great big sister for him, but every time the topic came Taileah would always change subject or remove herself from the conversation. She didn't want to keep getting her hopes up. A little part of her wanted to stay, but she knew that once the baby was born she would have to leave. Who wants a cursed person around a newborn?_

 _No, it was better she were prepared to be thrown out. Hell, she would probably be chased out of the village by everyone. For her, there were simply no 'if'. Only 'when'._

 _As the night grew darker Taileah decided to sneak out and look out for a new place to stay. She took her bag, but then realized that she had nothing here to gather. Every little thing in what they called her room were theirs. She owned nothing. She put her bag back on the chair, taking a few steps back to look at the room she had spent the last few years in. They had been so nice to her. She really didn't want to leave, but that was an impossible thing to ask for. They would start a new family. She was not needed. She sat down on the bed she had slept in for years now, thinking back on all the things that had happened. How Kushina had spent nights by her side when she was sick. How they had stood up for her when she was assaulted in the streets. She was really thankful for everything, but it was time to move on._

 _She took one final breath before she stood up, opened the window and jumped out into the night. What happened next, no one could have foreseen it._

* * *

Naruto sat on the ground as he collected enough natural Chakra, while the others waited. Taileah shifted nervously as time went by, and her anxiety grew. Her intuition is hardly ever wrong, but what if she was this time? How annoyed would they be?

Suddenly, Naruto stood up and stared straight ahead, a serious expression on his face. "I sense several people. With hostility in them."

She had been right. Something bad was waiting for them. Shikamaru sighed, and Sakura and Sai looked at Taileah.

"What do we do then? How do we get out of here?" Shikamaru asked with annoyance in his voice. He didn't like this at all. Not that she had been right, but the fact that there were people waiting to ambush them. Things could go south really quickly.

"Which way do you feel them?" Taileah asked, looking straight in Naruto's eyes.

"That way," he said, as he pointed and looked the way they were heading.

"Do you sence them anywhere else?" she asked another question.

"No, the others are that way also. But further away."

"What do we do?" Shikamaru asked again.

"There are several exits and entries to this place. We'll take another route", Taileah said with worry. Even though whoever was waiting for them were straight ahead, she didn't like that they could only be located at one spot. No one could find the way to the village unless they knew exactly where to look… unless they've been there before. This made Taileah feel more anxious.

"Show us the way then. I don't want to spend more time in this place than I have to. This place gives me the creeps", Shikamaru said as he walked closer to her. He stopped with enough space between them, but close enough to appear intimidating.

"Hey! Why are you saying that? You should think about what you're saying," Sakura barked at him. Even though she agreed with him, that is not something you say.

"No, it's okay. I understand why you would feel that way," Taileah answered, looking straight into Sakura's eyes like she had read her mind. Sakura averted her eyes. She felt ashamed that her feelings were so easy to read. Like an open book.

"Whatever this place makes us feel, we are on our way out of here. Taileah, show the way," Kakashi said, defending both his friend and his students. Though he also could understand why they would feel the way they do.

Taileah turned around and started walking to the other end of the valley. There were several routes they could take to avoid whatever was out there, but she wanted to get as far away from that as possible. Something bad was about to happen, and she wanted to avoid it for as long as possible.

* * *

 _A huge explosion awoke the village. Screams could be heard far and wide. Taileah had just passed the walls of Konoha when it happened. She turned around and all life drained from her face. Right in the center of the village, the beast stood. The fox with nine tails, the Kyuubi. Terrified that something had happened to Kushina, she turned and ran back. She couldn't just leave them to die. If her nightmare turned true this time, she wouldn't be able to take it. It would break her._

 _Screams from panicked citizen approached quickly as she made her way to the center. She ran past injured men and women seeking shelter wherever they could. Wherever she turned, she would find terrified children making themselves small and invisible in dark corners. The sights made her feel nauseated. Was this how a threat made people react? If the people of her village hadn't been asleep, would they have reacted the same?_

 _The thought made Taileah stop and vomit. Somehow, this made her feel worried and sick. She who had been on the run for almost her whole life, never terrified even at the sight of near death. But this… this made her stomach turn inside out. Again and again._

 _Five minutes later, she could finally stand up and move forward again. Leaning against a building she slowly made way to the center. She was abruptly stopped as she made a right turn. The street. Gone. Filled with rubble, dead bodies spread across the destroyed parts. Taileah pushed back the need to vomit again, turned her back and started climbing. No more walking and running the streets. She needed to know how far away she was._

 _Just as she reached the roof, a jonin ninja flew into her. Taileah quickly found footing. The jonin was seemingly unconscious, seriously injured and would quickly die if he was not attended to. Taileah looked around, but no other ninjas were nearby. She cursed under her breath, and began healing the ninja._

* * *

As the group followed Taileah through a narrow path inside the mountain, the atmosphere became more tense. No one said a word, no one dared to. Taileah made sure that the pace was not to fast, as the others could easily get lost if they lost sight of her. She knew her way around the mountain, but they didn't. Although, she had not navigated the paths with others before. Only once had she had one other person following her, but he just wanted to loot the valley after that horrible night.

As light approached, the tense atmosphere lightened. Sighs of relief could be heard. Just as they reached the exit, Taileah stopped. Naruto crashed into Sai as they all stopped as well.

"What the…?" he began as he rubbed his nose.

"Wait here. I'm going to look around first", she said with her back against them. She didn't want them to see the fear and agony in her eyes. Though the threat of imminent danger had disappeared, the feeling that something really bad would happen did not leave her. Not even one bit as they moved away from the threat. This bothered her. Before she woke up from the fever last time, she had another horrible nightmare. A boy with blonde hair was protecting her, when a huge boulder would come flying. The impact were devastating, making the boy explode into pieces. She could not let it happen, especially now that she had learned that the boy with blond hair was the son of Minato and Kushina. She would never accept that, and avoid it for as long as possible.

The sun blinded her as she stepped outside. She could not feel any danger for now, but wanted to make sure nothing was waiting for them.

"Coast is clear", she said as she stood outside the opening. The first to come out was Kakashi, placing himself next to her. He snuck his hand behind her back and grabbed her by the waist, stealing a kiss from her, all as the teens stepped outside one after the other. Not until they all had successfully stepped outside did he let go of her. He winked teasingly at Taileah, as she frowned at him before she chuckled.

Shikamaru looked at Taileah. "What's so funny? You've taken us further away from our village, making the travel route far longer than needed. You did so to avoid a conflict. Now you're standing there laughing. What is so funny that you can laugh at a time like this?" He was annoyed. He wanted this to be over with so he could go back home. He should be keeping an eye on Kurenai, not avoiding threats. Though he did not want to get stuck in a battle.

"Shikamaru! What's your problem? If we had gone the other way we could have been in serious trouble" Sakura barked at him.

"That's just it. We 'could' have"

"They were hostile! Remember?" Naruto asked with annoyance.

"How do you know they were hostile towards us? Could it be possible that they were only hostile towards her?" Shikamaru pointed at Taileah as he answered Naruto. This whole situation was getting out of hand. He could not get control of anything, and it pissed him of.

"Look, if you want to we could…"

"You be quiet!" Shikamaru interrupted Taileah. He knew he shouldn't be taking out his frustration on everyone else, but there was no way for him to stop now. Since he had taken on the mission to lookmafter his teachers daughter he had been under a lot of pressure. "Why do i get the feeling that you're just trying to avoid something. If it is going back to our village I'll happily make sure you get bound with chains and dragged there right now. We have our orders to take you back there, and I won't disobey orders."

"Just like you did with my letters?" Taileah asked with a calm demeanor. She had to stay calm for everyone. If she could fool them all that everything was fine, they wouldn't have to worry. If her nightmare would cause panic, she would do everything in her power to make it stay just a nightmare. Though, he had a point. The kid was smart. He had figured out that she was avoiding something.

Shikamaru stopped and became embarrassed over her question. She was right. He had disobeyed orders already. He had gone into the archives to get classified papers for a criminal. But that was not why he was frustrated. This whole situation was. He turned and walked away from the group. "I need some time to think this all through. I'll be right back" he said before jumping up a tree and away.

* * *

 _"Come on!" Taileah screamed at the now unconscious ninja. She did everything she could just to keep him alive. Three minutes later and he finally opened his eyes. "Hey! Wake up! You need to get to the hospital!" Taileah yelled at him. She didn't know if his hearing had gone away or what was happening._

 _Once the man's vision got clear, he could see who was yelling at him. Once he realized who it was, he got angry and started screaming back. "You f*cking b*tch! What did you do to me?! You have infected me you b*tch!" He grabbed a kunai from is pouch and tried to stab her. Taileah caught the kunai with her open hand, making it go right through. This scared the ninja even more, as he ran for it._

 _Taileah could not believe what had just happened. She had saved his life, and he repaid with not a thank you, but name calling and injuries. Maybe it was just because of the panicked situation. Just as the thought passed her mind, the Kyuubis deafening screams awoke her to reality. She stood up once again and made her way. She had to make haste. Who knows what had happened in the time she had been helping that guy._

 _Just a few minutes later she arrived at the battle. Right in the centre of Konoha, amongst the rubble, the screams and the rain, stood the ferocious nine tailed fox. He was huge, she knew when she saw it from afar. She could not have imagined just how huge it actually was. Once she finally snapped out of her trance, she started looking around for Kushina or Minato. One of them had to be close by, she thought. If not Kushina, then Minato at least. Just as she was going to start look around, several ninjas fell to the ground just by her feet. Without thinking she grabbed them and began healing them, one by one. They all said their thanks, until they saw who it was._

 _Demon… B*tch… Cursed child… Murderer…_

 _Every last one of them screaming in her face. All of them trying to hurt her as they moved away from her. No one accepted her help. She begged them to let her help them. They all rather died than being helped by her. They screamed at her to either leave them alone, or be killed by the nine tails._

 _Taileah turned around and ran. She didn't want them to see her crying. She cried for them. She could not take it, and just as she went into an alley, their dying screams travelled right into Taileahs memory, where they would stay for the rest of her life. She cradled herself in a corner, covering her ears as the panic she had pressed back for so long took over. Hearing people die, when she could help them, but they chose death. She hated herself. She wanted to disappeared, but knew she couldn't. She wanted to die, but couldn't. Instead, she realized that she would have to live the rest of her life like this._

* * *

 **End of chapter 17. The pressure is getting to them, and the tension is intensifying. Something is about to happen. Will they all make it?**

* * *

 **Authors Note: I'm sorry for the really late upload of this chapter. I have been in a really dark place for a while now but am starting to feel better. I promised this chapter would be the last, but as I wrote I realized that it would be too long. So, it will be atleast one more upload. Hopefully it won't take almost a year before the next.**


	18. What the hell!

"What's taking him so long?" Naruto asked with impatience in his voice. He wanted to go to the village quickly. He needed to know what was in the letters, and Taileah had promised to tell him once they got back.

"I'll go look. It's me who created this whole situation" Taileah said, but did not wait for an answer. She barely finished the sentence before she jumped after him.

She had another motive as well. The direction he moved was in the direction of the danger. She was now afraid that her nightmare would turn out to be true, although the blond haired boy would now be black haired. But just because in the dream there was a blond boy, doesn't mean it could happen to another.

She needed to find him, and fast! 

* * *

Shikamaru landed on the ground where they had started climbing. He didn't know why he moved that way, or how he ended up there. He must've been confused. All this thinking, combined with the pressuring atmosphere in the Valley had given him a serious headache. He felt dizzy and nauseous at the same time.

"Great, a migraine", he thought. He leaned on a trunk of a tree and closed his eyes to try to get some rest. Unfortunately, he had not registered that this was the exact place Naruto was pointing at. But in his current state, there were no way for him to detect the danger closing in on him. 

* * *

_Taileah covered her ears as she started rocking herself in an attempt to calm herself down. It was all in vain though, as the Screams of people dying did not leave her. Fresh or from memory, she could no longer tell the difference._

 _She had been to war, she had seen dead people before. She had even killed before, but this… There was something different about the whole situation. Maybe it was because this place felt like home. Though the people were hostile and wanted nothing to do with her, there was a selected few that made the village feel like home._

 _Her thoughts wandered to Kushina. Maybe she was okay. No! She had to be! She was giving birth soon, or maybe she even had given birth? Could she still dream of being a part of their family? And Minato, how would he react to her absence? How many times had both he and Kushina chased her when she tried to run away? How many times had they talked about Taileah becoming a big sister?_

 _Could she really hope for it all to be true? She once overheard them talking downstairs. It sounded like they were talking about her, but she couldn't really find out about what. The closer she got to listen in on them, the more quieter they got. They could sense her presence. It was something they didn't want to talk about with her it seemed. Finally she heard paper rustling and them called upon her. She quickly turned around and ran up to the room she occupied._

 _Taileah finally stopped rocking, and managed to somewhat block out most of the sounds. She needed to find them! No matter what! She needed to know once and for all what they thought of her. Finally, she managed to stand up again. Once again she climbed to the top of the nearest building to have a look. But to her surprise, as well as horror, the Kyuubi where gone!? It was no longer standing in the middle of the village._

 _Taileah could feel the panic rise again as she looked around for it. Finally, she could spot it. It had somehow moved from the center of village, to the outskirts of the village behind her. But something was definitely wrong. How could the Kyuubi move there, without her noticing or without having destroyed every building in its way? She could only come to one conclusion; it had been teleported. This though brought out two possibilities in her head, either Minato had it moved there, or someone else did. The second thought terrified her. If someone had moved it there, then that must mean it was controlled by someone, and in that case, whoever it was, had made an attack on Konoha!_

* * *

Taileah found Shikamaru sitting on the ground, massaging his eyes. He looked tired and in pain. A hint of guilt struck Taileah. Her worry would bring suffer to others, but it was for their safety. She took a deep breath before landing beside him. He needed to know.

"Leave me alone", Shikamaru said with a weak voice. He had enough of drama. He needed to get home and rest before he could resume his task of making sure that Kurenai were safe and healthy.

"Look, i just came here to explain myself to you. I can see you are very stressed, and you deserve to know the truth"Taileah said as she placed herself next to him. It was hard for her to panic, as her anxiety gradually increased. She needed to get him out of here quickly. The longer they stayed, the more the danger would creep up on them.

"You don't need to explain yourself. I'll be right back, so just leave me alone", Shikamaru could feel his pain increasing as his patience decreased.

"No, I do. There is something you need to know about my actions", she quickly added.

Shikamaru stood up and tried to walk away. He could feel the throbbing in his head and started to feel dizzy. This was not something he would experience. This was really messing with his judgement.

Out of respect, Taileah did not try to help him, although every muscle in her body screamed at her to help him. She could see he was getting weaker and weaker. She really wanted to help him.

"Please, could you just…" Before she could say anything else, a huge boulder came flying right at Shikamaru. There were no way for her to destroy it, and she could not count on him to be able to dodge it by himself. There was really only one option left. "Move!" She screamed at him, as she ran to his side to push him out of the way.

"What the hell?!" Shikamaru turned to scream at her, but the sight he saw… 

* * *

_"Kushina! Minato!" Taileah called as she had turned around and was moving towards the Kyuubi. The closer she got, the more terrified she got. She knew she had to hurry. The nightmare she had last time… She would do everything she could to make sure it didn't became reality. She had to save them! Even if she was the one getting impaled!_

 _It felt like an eternity. No matter how fast she moved, it didn't seem she was getting closer. It was like she was in a bizarre dream, where no matter how far or how fast one are moving, one is never getting closer._

 _All around her, people were traveling in the opposite direction._

 _Right in front of her, a terrifying sight.  
_ _Behind her, rubble and death.  
_ _If she had left way earlier…  
_ _If she never stayed here…_

 _The negative thoughts, combined with the hurtful words screamed at her wherever she went, the pressure and pain was to much. Tears began falling down her cheeks as she continued straight ahead. Although she hated herself, although the rest of the world hated her, she would not stop herself to help the two people who gave her a home._

* * *

There came a sound of a loud crash. Just at the moment of the crash, something hit Kakashi. He clutched his chest as he fell on his knees. It was like someone had stabbed him in the heart. Sakura and Naruto both called for him as they rushed over. His face was pale, and they could tell he was in a lot of pain. He looked in the direction of the crash and realized, it was where she and Shikamaru were.

"No!" He said, as he stood up and ran as fast as he could toward them. The closer he got, the more panicked he got. He was still clutching his heart and didn't dare to let go, as if the worst would happen if he did.

Right behind him, Naruto and Sakura followed close by. They had never seen their teacher in such a panic before. They were worried.

As they almost reached whatever they were chasing, Naruto subconsciously clutched his chest as well. He could feel great sorrow. He needed to prepare for the worst.

"Who are you!" Shikamaru screamed, but regretted it the second later, as the ringing in his ears became louder and the pain harder. The crash had almost made him faint, but what he saw made his senses come back somewhat.

Laughter came from all directions as it echoed against the mountain walls. Shikamaru turned in every direction, but the smoke had not settled. His vision was limited, and his ears were ringing. He tried very hard on focusing on in which direction they could be. The mountains made it really hard.

Another boulder came flying towards him, but it luckily missed. Shikamaru knew that if it hadn't been for Taileah, he would have ended up like… her. He looked around, but couldn't see her anywhere. No matter where he looked, there were only dust flying around, and with the sight limited combined with his throbbing head, he knew that he would definitely be in a lot more trouble soon than now. He felt guilty, as he could not search for her.

She had pushed him away.  
She had saved him.  
She had whispered, thank you.  
She had disappeared with the boulder.

Shikamaru tried to shake the image from his head, but he already knew that he would never be able to unsee it. He didn't care about the curse at this point! He had to find her, but at the same time he had to watch out for the rocks and boulders coming his way.

If he only could stall enough time, then the others would come. There was no way they didn't hear it.

He just hoped that if bad came to worse, the curse wouldn't start taking lives, as the ones he counted on would be taken. 

* * *

_It became quiet. Taileah couldn't take it anymore! Where were they? No matter where she looked, or how loud she called for them, there was no answer._

 _The silence terrified her. The Kyuubi had stopped roaring and screaming, and there was no sound of any fights. She looked everywhere for them. Tears began running down her cheeks as she started thinking the worst. Was it too late? What happened to their child?_

 _Finally, she noticed shadows at the distance. She was exhausted, but she still kept going. The closer she got, the more she panicked._

 _Once she got closer, she stopped. She collapsed. She was too late! Minato and Kushina laid down on the ground. There was blood everywhere as the had both been impaled. Their son had been born, but made no movement or sound. The Kyuubi was gone._

 _She just sat there, staring at them, crying and laughing. Her nightmare had become reality again. She could feel herself going mad._

 _She had to leave. She had to get out of here! What if someone saw her there? Would they believe it was her?_

 _She picked herself up, took one last look before she turned around and ran away._

 _This time, no one would follow her.  
This time no one would stop her.  
This time, she would run away for good._

* * *

"Where are you?!" Naruto called once they reached the smoke of dust. "Shikamaru?! Taileah?!"

At this point, even Naruto got anxious. Neither answered their calling. That could only mean that they could not answer. He just hoped it was because they were hiding.

"This smoke is unnatural. It should have vanished by now" Sakura said with worry and tension in her voice. She had a point. The sound of a crash came about ten minutes ago, it should have somewhat settled by now.

Kakashi fell to his knees again, still in a lot of pain. He knew something was very wrong. He had to hurry to her side. He needed to find her.

Naruto noticed the pain and agony on his teachers face. He could somewhat understand why. Something had happened to Taileah. He didn't want to think it, but unfortunately he couldn't shake the feeling.

Another sound of something hitting the ground hard could be heard quite far away, but not too far. Sakura figured it came from straight ahead. The dust really annoyed her, as they could barely see anything at all through the smoke. She looked at Naruto, pulled her gloves tighter and clenched her fist. She pulled back her arm and got ready to punch. Fight fire with fire as they said, why not dust with dust.

She jumped high and focused all her chakra to her fist, making the ground sink and crumble as she hit. The sudden gust of wind mixed with the Shockwave from the impact made almost all the dust to vanish.

The scene before them made Kakashi turn from agony to hate. Just a few feet away, Taileah were being held by her throat by a man, large as a small giant. He was laughing as his grip around her neck tightened, but Taileah didn't fight back. Blood dropped from her feet, building a puddle beneath her. Most of the bones in her body were broken, making any movement from her impossible. She was barely conscious. A few wheezing sounds and weak coughs could be heard.

The giant man looked at the trio, his laugh turned to a grin. He recognized the man kneeling on the ground. The infamous "copy ninja".

The huge man didn't let go of Taileah. He still held on to her throat, as he lowered his arm.

"Let her go" Kakashi growled. He slowly raised himself up, as the pain turned to adrenaline.

Naruto and Sakura noticed Shikamaru further away, fighting of others. Sakura could see that he was not himself, his movements were slow and his face was pale. It looked like he were going to pass out any second.

"Take care of Taileah, we will help Shikamaru" Naruto said as he jumped to assist his friend. Sakura followed closely.

The man laughed yet again, still treating Taileah as a ragdoll. He had fun torturing her, as he pointed at Kakashi and grinned yet again.

"I can see you care about this one. You have great taste. Without the circumstances, maybe I could have made her mine" he said as he lifted her to his mouth and licked her cheek.

"Let her go!" Kakashi raised his voice. He wanted nothing more than to burn a hole through his heart. But he had to be careful. If he made any sudden movements, he would have no chance to get Taileah back in one piece. Even though he wanted to gauge this man's eyes out, he had to be smart about this.

"Oh well, you should know the feeling of having killed many people. Such an easy way to spill so much blood! And not even have to deal with being imprisoned for it! With simply killing her, I'll have killed thousands of people! I don't care if I die! I'll go down in history as the one who killed thousands of people by killing only one!" the small giant laughed again.

Kakashi lost it. He moved fast, grabbed a kunai from his pouch and rushed over. He stabbed the man in the chest, but it was not nearly enough. The giant swung his free hand, hitting Kakashi inte his face with the elbow. Kakashi flew a few feet away. As he stood up, the giant man removed the kunai, without even flinching, and licked the blood from it.

Then, out of nowhere, he stabbed Taileah in the chest, at the same place he was hit, making her cough blood. No sound, no whining, no reaction at all. There was no time left.

Kakashi was mortified! He had to do something, and fast! 

* * *

The ANBU stationed nearby saw the scenes unfolding. They quickly reorganized before jumping ahead to assist. With the current situation, more needed to assist Kakashi than the others. Taking into the account also that Naruto had the ability to make infinite clones, only one group were sent to help them.

The other four groups joined Kakashi in his fight. 

* * *

_She moved through the night as fast as she could. She had to go back to the house to gather a few things before she left._

 _The door was still open when she arrived. Everything inside was still the same. Nothing had been moved. It appeared the news of the tragedy had not hit yet. She ran upstairs to collect a few things. In the room they called hers, pretty much everything was the same. All except… Her bag!_

 _It sat on top of the desk. Taileah opened it to see snacks, books and pictures of them three together. Tears began falling yet again. Right behind the bag were a letter. The writing belonged to Kushina. She could tell as she recognized the handwriting._

 _Taileah slowly opened the letter and read._

'My sweet dear Taileah. I know you have tried to run away for so long, but we have always stood in your way. This time we would not. I think it is time to let you travel, to find whatever you are searching. But you should always know, this will always be your home! I have noticed how uncomfortable you are when we talk about you being a big sister. But you need to understand and we hope you will, that we hope you will embrace the fact that you are part of the family. So, what I am trying to say is that, we hope you will come back sooner than later. I will worry about you and your safety. Whilst you are traveling, we will think about you. I hope you will have safe journey, eat well and find new places and people. Maybe you could even find new friends! I have packed some of your favorite snacks for you. Stay safe!

With all my love  
Kushina

P. S. Once you get back, ask for some papers and a letter from the Hokage's' office. Minato left them there waiting for you. We hope you accept.'

 _Taileah hugged the letter as if she tried to hug Kushina. But they would never come back. And neither would she. She took one last look around the house before she left. She locked the door before she ran away, protected by the night._

* * *

 **End of chapter 18. A strong opponent. ANBU diving in to help. Feeling of rage mixed with anxiety. The end is near.**

* * *

 **Author's note: Wow! This chapter was so hard to write. So much emotions. I'm currently writing on the next chapter, that I think will be the last. It depends on how long it gets. Once every chapter has been published, I will go through every single one and edit them as I have noticed several mistakes I've made. See you in the next (last) chapter!**


	19. My lover

Shikamaru tried his best, being in the state he was, to hold the bounty hunters off. The dust made it difficult, as he could barely see anything. The blurriness in front of his eyes made it difficult for him to differentiate between his condition or if it just was bad sight.

Then suddenly, as he managed to evade another set of shurikens flying his way, a sudden wind blew the dust away. For a second, he became completely blind, as the difference between the darkness in the dust and smoke and the sunlight blended his eyes.

Unfortunately, as he tried to adjust his eyes to the new light, a kunai hit him. The sharp pain spread from his shoulder blade throughout his entire body.

Thud!

Another kunai hit him on his lower back. Shikamaru almost fell over from the pain, but managed to find his footing. He could not pass out!

His eyes finally adjusted as another kunai came flying, but fortunately it missed as he managed to dodge it. He reached for the kunais on his back and pulled them out. Three of the bounty hunters jumped forward to engage in close combat. This only worked in the advantage of Shikamaru. He could finally see again, which meant he could finally see where he steered his Kagemune. A hint of a smile appeared on his face. Finally!

* * *

It didn't take long before Naruto and Sakura joined Shikamaru in his fight. Sakura immediately started to heal the wounds on his body, but as she did she noticed a disturbance in his chakra. She decided that she would focus on that directly after these wounds were healed.

Naruto called out several clones; one for each hunter they could find. He ran up to one of the three hunters on their frontline and also engaged in close combat.

Shikamaru smiled as he could feel his migraine disappearing. The longer Sakura helped him, the more he could think straight. It was at this moment he looked around the see if he could find Taileah. He saw her. His eyes shrunk in horror as he saw her being treated as a ragdoll, being at the brink of death.

"What's going on over there?!" Shikamaru asked, trying to contain the panic in his voice. Several thoughts circulated in his head; if she die, how would he be able to thank her for saving him? If she died, what would happen to the thousands of people that she had tried so hard to protect?

Sakura didn't answer right away. She focused all her energy on healing Shikamaru. If she let her thoughts wander, she would lose focus and wouldn't be able to do her job. She could feel her eyes begin to water, but quickly shook them away.

Shikamaru didn't ask further. He could feel the sadness from her. Instead, he kept his eyes on the giant man holding Taileah by the throat, like he was holding a bottle. He could see how this giant licked her face, hear how he laught.

He watched as Kakashi stabbed him, but was quickly pushed aside. Then, Shikamaru almost choked as the unexpected event unfolded as the giant man stabbed Taileah in the chest with Kakashi's kunai. The always calm Kakashi, was now filled with rage, murderous intent emitting all the way from his body to where they were standing.

Just a moment later, seven ANBU came to their aid. The Konoha's secret force, specialized in assassinations. Only Tsunade could have sent them. Shikamaru only couldn't figure out why; where they here to aid, or the capture Taileah?

* * *

Four teams of ANBU, including his old squad, came to assist Kakashi. Everyone in close range could feel the hate coming from the usually calm man. Not many had seen him like this, the most who had, had never lived to tell the tale.

"We are here on orders from the Hokage to aid you", one of the captains said. "At first, we were to simply observe and escort you from afar, but the situation has changed."

Kakashi looked at the one speaking. He didn't say anything, as he had to find a way to free Taileah, and fast. Every second counted. If they waited too long, she would not make it. He had promised himself to make damn sure he didn't lose her as well. He made a promise to Rin and Obito by their graves. He had to save her, but he could not think straight when he saw how his beloved was treated that way. If he just could get to her, free him from the creep, then he could take her and run away, make sure to find a place safe for her to heal up and come back to him.

"We will take care of the enemy, you focus on getting the target back", the captain spoke again. He could sense what was on Kakashi's mind.

"The target's name is Taileah", Kakashi growled, but couldn't help feeling a sense of relief that he didn't have to explain himself.

"Then get ready. We will advance in so that you can take Taileah from his hands."

* * *

 _For some reason, it didn't take long before Taileah could feel like she was being followed. She had a hunch on who it could be, but didn't turn to look. She focused on getting away. It didn't matter on who it was that tried to stop her, she wouldn't stay. Not a chance. She couldn't stay. They would just blame her for the deaths of the Forth Hokage and his wife._

 _She didn't even dare to say their names. Somehow, even though there was nothing she could do, she felt guilty. If she had never stayed, would this have happened? If she had stayed tonight instead of leaving, would that have made a difference? The inner conflict hurt more than any rock thrown at her had ever done._

 _By the west gate, she briefly stopped to look for guards. Luckily, no one could be seen. The sound of her name being called didn't stop her. Once she new it was safe, she ran out of the gate. She didn't know where she was going. She only knew she was going away for good. She just had to keep moving forward._

 _The sound of her name being called became quieter. She figured he had stopped following her. But as she reached the top of a hill, someone grabbed her arm. She was spun around and found herself in an embrace. His heart was beating so fast. He must have pushed himself really hard for it to race like that._

" _Don't leave", he said between breaths. He didn't want to let her go._

" _I can't stay", she whispered as she found herself wrapping her arms around his waist._

 _They stood in silence, neither moved an inch. If only this moment could have lasted forever._

* * *

Soon enough, the bounty hunters attacking Shikamaru had been subdued. With Narutos' clones and ANBUs' reinforcements, it didn't take long before they were caught. Some of them even gave up once they saw what the giant man they had teamed up with had done. They were to capture her alive, she was no good to them dead. Yet, he had gone and almost killed her. She would be dead soon anyway. They cursed under their breaths as they decided to flee, but was quickly stopped by the special forces of Konoha. They knew when to give up. There was no way they could get away from ANBU.

Naruto looked over at Taileah, and was ready to go help. Shikamaru stepped in, however to stop him.

"What are you doing? I need to go there to help!" Naruto yelled at him.

Shikamaru gave a sad look at Naruto before he explained, "I'm sorry, but there is no way she will survive."

Naruto looked at him in disbelief. But before he could say anything, Shikamaru continued. "She pushed me out of the way. You see that boulder? She was hit head on by it. Probably every bone in her body are broken. It's a miracle she is even still breathing."

Naruto could not believe it. Was there no way she could be saved? What if…?

Shikamaru gave a last look before he sadly shook his head before turning around. He didn't want anyone to see him crying. It was his fault!

* * *

Five ANBU jumped at the giant man, trying to hold him down whilst Kakashi tried to have him let Taileah go. He easily threw them away as he kept a firm grip around her throat. He laughed at their attempt, mocking them. He took one last look at the dying Taileah before he looked at the desperate man.

"You want her back? Fine, I'll give her to you", he said, as he threw her away.

Kakashi looked in horror, as he watched Taileah being thrown like some trash. He followed her and managed to catch her, close to a mile away.

He sat down on his knees as he placed her gently on the ground. Her head rested on his lap. Wheezing sounds could be heard as evidence that she was still alive. He was too late. There was nothing anyone could do now. No one still alive at least. If there only were one more Shima still alive.

They were alone. The battle with the giant was still ongoing, but he didn't care. He didn't want to leave her alone. Not now. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see her taking her last breath.

Suddenly, Taileahs' eyes started flickering, and slowly opened to look at a depressed Kakashi. She managed to force her broken arm to move as she gently stroke his cheek. Kakashi opened his eyes and looked at her in disbelief.

"Don't make any movements", he coached her as he took hold of her hand and pulled it down. "Save whatever strength you have to save yourself". He only said this to keep her calm, but they both knew the fate that awaited.

"It's… Too late...", Taileah managed to breath out. "Promise me… That you won't… Come after me…"

Kakashi smiled a sad smile as he nodded. He wanted so bad to go with her, but how could he? He let his thumb stroke her hand as he pulled her closer. He leaned his forehead against hers.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura could only watch as Taileah was thrown away. They called for Shikamaru as they ran towards her. All of them left the giant man to the ANBU, and not a single one of them protested or made any attempt at stopping them.

Once they closed in on them, they slowed down. They saw Kakashi holding her, as if he knew what would happen soon. They all knew.

Naruto got anxious, as he really wanted to know the relationship between her and his parents. Somehow, he found himself lost for words when he got close enough to ask. Instead, he found himself watching his teacher crying. Naruto could see that her chest slowly rose and sank, in ragged movements. But she was still breathing. He sat down facing Kakashi, took her free hand and said nothing. There were nothing to be said.

* * *

" _I have to go", she said after what felt like an eternity. She tried to shake him of her, but his grip only tightened. He didn't want to let her go._

" _Please, let me go. I can't stay here", she begged._

" _Promise you will return one day", he whispered. It was the only sound he could make without choking on his own tears._

 _Taileah didn't answer. How could she promise that? She didn't know where she was going, what she would do, or how long it would take to decide._

" _Promise me, or else I'll go with you now", he said as he looked her in the eyes. He meant every word. If she wouldn't promise him, he would follow her now. Leaving everything behind and never leave her side._

 _Taileah looked at him in disbelief. How could he just leave for her like that. She was dangerous. A criminal, but he didn't look at her that way. Not at all. It was almost as if… He considered her family?_

 _Family? The word made her think about the letter from Minato and Kushina in the Hokages' office. She wanted to know so bad what was written in it, but at the same time not. She began thinking the worst again as she almost believed herself that the letter only contained hatred._

" _What's the matter?", he saw her confused look and asked._

 _Taileah pulled out the letter written by Kushina and showed it to him. He smiled._

" _Isn't this proof that you have to come back one day?", he looked at her with a charming smile._

 _A moment of shock hit her, but then she began to smile and giggle._

" _If you think it will be something bad written, then you are wrong. All the time I spent by Kushina-sans side she only said good things about you. Never a bad word. So don't worry. Come back when you are ready and pick it up."_

" _Fine", Taileah finally agreed. "I'll come back one day and pick it up. Maybe you will be in line for the position of Hokage by then."_

" _Hopefully you won't be gone for that long", he laughed._

 _They embraced each other one last time, while Kakashi removed his facial mask for the first time with her around, and had their first kiss._

* * *

"Naruto…." a wheezing sound called his name. "In my bag… You can find the letter… Take it… I'll give it to you…"

"No. I won't! You promised you would tell me everything when we got back!" He began crying. Even though he wanted nothing more than to read it, it felt wrong. She had promised him!

"Naruto…" Sakura began trying to comfort him. They all knew how bad he wanted to know.

"Naruto. I'm proud of you", she said looking him straight in his tearfilled eyes. She didn't blame him. She didn't blame anyone. She only blamed herself. Everyone would die with her. Yet she made Kakashi promise to not follow her.

"Taileah", Kakashi called. "Do you remember the last time, before we separated, that you joked about me becoming Hokage?"

She smiled. "I do. It still was true."

Kakashi leaned closer as he whispered in her ear, "I love you". He gave her one final kiss.

"I love you too", she answered with her final breath.

* * *

She was gone.  
The wheezing stopped.  
They could now only wait for the curse to take them.

But one thing was not right. They were all here. They were all still alive! What about the curse of death? 'The one affected by the curse shall have every soul they've touched taken with them'. Yet, Taileah was dead, but they all were alive?

Kakashi figured this could only mean one thing; somehow the curse had been lifted. Maybe it was because she could be at peace? Or could it have been because she could feel loved again? Either way, he felt sad. This meant that he couldn't follow her either way, as he promised… She made him promise to not follow him, could it be that she knew that the curse was lifted? He looked at her. She looked so peaceful.

"Finally, you can rest in peace", ha said as he kissed her forehead. He put her gently on the ground before he stood up. The murderous intent from before came back in full force. He kept his eyes on her, as he gathered his chakra in his hand. Electricity began to sparkle with blue light. He turned around and slowly walked towards the one who killed her. He wanted revenge.

* * *

The giant man still laughed as the ANBU could do nothing against his brute strength. Even if he had no chakra affinity, the sheer brute strength he owned made him hard to deal with.

"Soon! Soon I'll be gone from this world!" he laughed. "She's probably dead by now! Just you wait! Soon everyone will die with her!"

Suddenly, the man stopped laughing. He coughed blood as he looked down his chest. He saw an arm, sparkling with blue electrical waves had impaled him.

"Too bad for you. The curse has been lifted", Kakashi said with anger behind him.

"Lifted? Impossible! What do you mean lifted?" he coughed up more blood.

"That the curse has been lifted. The only one to die with her, is you!" Kakashi pulled back his arm, asserted himself as the giant man fell to his knees. Kakashi aimed for his head, but was quickly stopped by Shikamaru and Sakura.

"It's over", Shikamaru said. "He's already dead."

The man fell dead to the ground. A puddle of blood formed underneath him. His heart had been shattered to pieces by Kakashi's Chidori.

Kakashi slowly calmed down. Letting his Chidori go. He stared at the dead man. "No matter how strong you are, once your heart is gone then so are you", he said before walking back to where they had left Taileah. He had decided that she was still going with them back to Konoha. He would make damn sure she was buried beside either Obito or Rin.

* * *

Two days later, they finally reached Konoha. Taileahs body was swept in fabric as he carried her straight to the Hokage's' office. Closely followed by Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru, who all had a sad look in their face.

The morbid scene of seeing someone carrying a dead body through the village made people gather to try to take a look. They wanted to know what was going on.

By the stairs to the Hokages building, Tsunade was waiting together with the captains of the ANBU teams that had been dispatched to their aid. A sad look on her face was present.

Kakashi gently placed Taileahs body in the top of the stairs, close to where Tsunade stood. Then he exchanged one look with Tsunade before they both nodded their heads and turning to the crowd that had gathered.

"Taileah is dead!" he began, "She protected one of our most prominent ninjas, Nara Shikamaru from death. Unfortunately, she lost her life. The curse? The curse had been lifted as she was dying."

Kakashi held the file with Taileahs name on it high up so that everyone present could take a good look at it before he spoke. "This! This is the file with the letter Taileah spoke of the last time you 'welcomed her'. This file was the key to lift the curse. In it, there are a letter from both Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato, The Forth Hokage, where they asked her to accept their adoption. They wanted to adopt her as their legal child! Inside this file, there are also documents of adoption, signed by both of them. This file found her, and she has also signed it. This makes her their legal child. Everyone who even once assaulted her, assaulted a child of the Forth!"

Gasps could be heard everywhere. Many people felt ashamed, especially many adults and elders, who had attacked her back when she lived in this village. The cursed child was dead, but everyone else was still alive. The curse had been lifted!

"The curse that everyone was afraid of, has been lifted. Thanks to a selected few people accepting her, loving her, giving her a home. A curse can be lifted. And this curse, was lifted by love."

Everyone could sense the anger in his voice. Murmurs could be heard throughout the crowd. Whispers about recalling every time they had assaulted her. Doubts about the curse being lifted, but with everyone currently present who had once touched her was still very much alive, doubt began to fade.

Naruto stood by the foot end of the stairs, being equally angry. Just like he was hated on, she was hated on. They had all called him monster and demon child as well. How cruel fate was. He wanted to hate everyone for taking his sister away! But, he also knew that it wasn't really the villages fault. It wasn't they who had killed her. And she could probably have lived a peaceful life in Konoha, had they successfully returned home.

This time, Tsunade called for attention, "As requested by Hatake Kakashi, I grant his wish to bury Taileah in Konoha's graveyard. She will be buried together with her legal parents, the Forth and his wife. Anyone having any complaint with my decision can write me a letter I can shread to pieces later." Tsunade turned to look at the elders standing behind her, whispering "I hope you feel proud about yourselfs", before she walked inside the Hokages office.

* * *

Kakashi sat by the gravestone of the Namikaze family. The white lilies that had been placed in a vase move to the gentle wind. He closed his eyes as he imagined the wind was her touch.

Naruto joined his teacher and closed his eyes. How wonderful it would have been if he had gotten to know his sister. He loved saying and thinking of her as his sibling. Now he had gotten the answer of her relationship with his parents. But there was still so much he wanted her to tell him.

Naruto proudly said to anyone who asked that he had a sister.

Whenever anyone would ask about Kakashis relationship with Taileah, he would always answer, "My lover".

* * *

 **Curse of death and love, End!**


	20. Thank You!

**Author's Note: Thank you all for reading to the end!**

 **It wasn't easy whriting the last chapter, as it hurt so much wirting the death, of a character I basically gave birth to. It felt I killed my own child (ToT)**

 **I'd like to thank everyone for the patience with my irregular publishing. Things hasn't been easy on my end as many things have happened during this year. But sadly, all things come to an end.**

 **Thanks again everyone! I think I'll take a break from wirting another story, as this one hurt so much in the end. Have a fantastic day (^.^)/**


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